Fissure
by Anterrabae
Summary: Spinoff of Haunted, but can stand alone. After eight years apart, Jonas Carden has come to New York to find his soulmate. Risa is a vigilante, mercilessly hunting the worst of the human race. Daybreak has targeted her for assassination. Completed!
1. Awakening

_He followed the girl as she tailed the vampire ahead of her. The world seemed void of anyone else, the sounds of the city hushed in the distance. It was only the three of them, alone on the darkened streets. They each avoided the splashes of orange light cast by the street lamps and stayed in the shadows, closer to the buildings they passed._

_There was something captivating about the way she walked—silent but determined. Her back was rigidly straight and she kept her head up, letting her long, dark hair spill down her back. For a human, she was dangerously confident, and that told him that she didn't know the man she was stalking was a vampire. But if she wasn't a hunter, then what the hell was she doing? A girl shouldn't alone in this neighborhood at this time of night, especially not one with a body like hers._

_Her figure was what had caught his attention a few blocks back. She was tall and lithe, with legs that were deliciously long. It was a natural reaction to stop and watch her pass by, but he couldn't say what provoked him to follow her. He had work that he should be doing. Staring at some girl's ass as she walked through a seedy area was not on his agenda._

_But he couldn't make himself stop._

_There was anger in her steps, something primal and alluring. Her hips barely swayed as she walked and she kept her hands in front of her, probably in the pockets of the jacket she wore. This was not a girl who was aware of her body as anything more than a machine that accomplished the tasks she needed it to do. And for some reason, he found her more attractive for it._

_She was puzzling. Even if she didn't know that the man she was following was a vampire, he still outweighed her by at least sixty pounds. If she was planning on robbing him, then she had a death wish. And yet, she seemed so focused and calm. He realized that this wasn't the first time she'd done something like this._

_But why?_

_He could always read her thoughts to find out, but was reluctant to do it. It's not that he had qualms about invading people's privacy. Quite to the contrary, actually. No, it was that he was enjoying the mystery of her as a strange sort of foreplay. And as soon as he delved into her thoughts, she would be just another girl. There would be no more reason to follow her. He wanted to hold on for a little while longer._

_The vampire in front of her stopped walking to pull a pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket. While he took one out and cupped his hands around it to light it, the girl saw her chance and moved swiftly towards him. With a low sidekick, she knocked the vampire forward, onto his knees._

_She tried to kick him again, but the vampire dodged her. He stood up and grabbed the girl by her throat, slamming her back against a wall. And then the vampire was bending his head down to bite her as she struggled._

_He watched it happen in fascination, but then he was moving towards them before he even realized it. Seizing the collar of the vampire's shirt, he wrenched him off the girl and she fell to the ground. The vampire came at him, but he withdrew a stake from inside his coat and stabbed the vampire in the chest. _

_Ashes to ashes…_

_The fight had lasted less than a minute, and then everything was quiet again._

_Dust to dust._

_Turning back to the girl, he saw that she hadn't moved. She was huddled against the wall, staring up at him, transfixed. Some blood dripped down her neck, but the vampire hadn't had the chance to bite her too deeply. Still, the sight of the blood made him ache._

_Her light hazel eyes were gorgeous as she looked at him, a beautiful swirl of blue, green, and gold. Pink scars raked down one of her cheeks, all the way to her throat. They had been ugly gashes once, but now they only added to her strange beauty. She was breathing too fast through her parted lips, and her chest heaved._

_He reached down to her. Slowly, she reached up to take his hand._

_Energy crackled around them as he touched her. He fluidly pulled her to her feet and into his arms. He understood at once what was happening, but the girl didn't. And she started to panic. He could feel the arrhythmic beat of her heart against his chest. Her terrified scream filled the silence around them._

_He stroked her silky hair and tried to quiet her. "Shhh," he whispered. "It's all right. Don't be afraid."_

_The gentleness was so unlike him, but it came to him naturally with her. His soulmate._

_When she calmed down, she stepped away to see his face. She smiled a little and his breath caught. "I—"_

_There was a sickening, wet noise. Her eyes rolled back as her head fell forward. He looked down and saw a bloody hand protruding from her chest, holding her still-beating heart. Behind her stood Aiden St. Helen, his gray eyes shining with deranged satisfaction. It was his arm impaling her, his hand covered in her blood._

_I will track Risa down, and find some rather creative things to do to her before I rip her heart out…_

Jonas Carden screamed as he awoke in a cold sweat. He gasped as he looked around him and tried to figure out where he was. People were staring at him warily.

Small seat, loud rush of wind, sudden jerks of turbulence.

Airplane.

To New York City.

To see Risa.

Oh, thank god. She was still alive. Just a dream.

Carden breathed. The dream still overwhelmed him, feeling more real than the waking world. He wiped the sweat from his face with a shaking hand. The passengers in front of him, deciding that he wasn't threatening to take over the plane, turned back around.

A flight attendant crouched down in the aisle next to him. "Sir, is there a problem?" she asked.

Carden exhaled slowly before answering. "No. I'm just losing my mind," he said pleasantly.

The woman smiled sympathetically. She was older, in her late forties, maybe. But she ignored the calls of two other passengers to stroke Carden's arm. "Is there anything I can get you?"

Vodka, he wanted to say, but thought better of it. His mind was foggy enough without alcohol and he needed to be clear-headed to find Risa. He shook his head. "When will we land?"

"We'll be starting the descent in a few minutes," the flight attendant answered. "Now, you just let me know if there is anything I can do for you. Okay?"

"Thank you."

She smiled flirtatiously as she left to help other passengers. Carden hardly noticed.

The perks of being attractive weren't bestowed only on women. With his well-muscled body and arresting face with dark brown eyes, Carden was used to being fawned on by women of all ages. And of course he took advantage of it as often as possible. His eyes had gotten him out of traffic tickets, his smile had gotten him tables at expensive restaurants without a reservation, and his body had lured numerous women into his bed.

But as the plane drew closer to New York, he could think of nothing but Risa. It didn't matter if he was awake or asleep, she plagued his mind. He hadn't seen or spoken to his soulmate in over eight years. He'd buried his feelings for her a long time ago and if it weren't for that bastard, Aiden St. Helen, they never would have resurfaced.

As it was, Carden felt like a walking train wreck. It was as if he'd only just left Risa. He remembered the softness of her lips, the taste of her skin, the hum of the soulmate link. And lurking within him were the memories of her bitter curses, the madness in her eyes. Guilt and loss.

"Are you a bad flyer?" the elderly man sitting next to him asked.

The sudden question startled him. "Not usually," Carden finally replied.

"Must have been one hell of a dream, then."

He snorted. "You have no idea."

The old man paused and then smiled. "Women will do that to you."

Carden was taken aback. "How did you know?"

"Take it from me, boy," the man laughed. "I've been chasing after women for seventy-two years. You can't let them get you by the balls like this. Once they know they've got you, it's all over."

"You're probably right," Carden said with a self-effacing smile. The old man wasn't too far off. "But I haven't seen her in a long time. I think I've wrangled my balls back."

"Then forget about her. Go out and find some curvy blond who uses her mouth for something more than nagging. You're too young to be whipped, boy."

Of course Carden couldn't tell the man that, although he looked like he was in his twenties, he was actually forty-three years old. Most human men his age would have already gotten married and had a few children. A lot of lamia would have, as well.

The old man's words still got to him. Carden had sworn that he would never come back to New York, would never come back to her. But all it had taken was one threat, and here he was, desperate to find her.

How was it that the very thought of her was enough to completely cripple him, even after all of this time? Was that some unavoidable side-effect of the soulmate principle?

_May cause dry mouth, drowsiness, and emasculation._

No. Not this time.

"Don't worry," he said to the old man as the plane touched down in New York. "I'm not a glutton for punishment."

The man gave him a knowing look. "Oh, you're already too far gone."

Okay, Carden had had enough of this conversation. He suddenly felt like grabbing the man by his overgrown nose hairs and tossing him out onto the runway. Instead, he skimmed through the old man's thoughts to find something to use. "So, hey, how does it feel to be dying?" he asked acidly. "Do you ever worry that your son and daughter won't come to the funeral, after you left their mother to run off with your secretary?"

The old man paled.

Without another word, Carden stood up and retrieved his shoulder bag from the overhead compartment and waited in line to get off the plane.

Asshole. The guy didn't know what he was talking about. Sure, Carden had come to New York to see Risa. So what? She was his soulmate; it was in his best interest to make sure that she was okay. But that didn't mean that he was going to fall at her feet when he saw her. Hell no. He would find her, make sure that she was alive and well, and then leave without her knowing he'd even been here. He would go back to Los Angeles and force the memories of her back into the recesses of his mind, where they belonged.

Carden stormed down the terminal, occasionally pushing people out of his way. Sure, it was rude, but he didn't give a damn. It made him feel better.

As he finally stepped outside of the airport, he saw a young businessman with slicked-back hair and manicured nails hailing a cab. There was a cell phone pressed against his ear and Carden heard him droning on about stock options. Oh, this would be good.

When a taxi drove up, Carden dashed over to the car and slid inside before the businessman could get to it. The guy stomped his foot angrily as Carden slammed the door shut. He just blew the businessman a kiss as the cab pulled away from the curb.

"Where to?" the driver asked him, unaware of the altercation.

Checking the clock on his cell phone, Carden saw that it was only 8:30AM and he knew that it would be easiest to find Risa after dark. Well, he was starving and exhausted anyway. He needed a place to crash.

"Hudson Hotel," he finally replied.

* * *

New York City was disgusting. Risa Sinclair was standing in an overcrowded subway car, the Sneaker Pimps blasting through her headphones. But she wasn't listening to the music; she was too distracted by the small, frail woman with horrible bleach-blond hair that stood across from her. Blood slowly oozed from an open wound on the woman's neck, staining the collar of her grimy shirt. Letting go of the overhead rail, the woman wiped at the blood, smearing it across her skin with her bare hand, and then, using that same hand, grabbed onto the rail again. 

God, what was wrong with these people?

Sensing Risa's stare, the woman glared. Her fake eyelashes lowered. "What are you looking at?" she snapped.

Risa didn't answer. She just looked away, grateful that she was wearing gloves in this biohazardous waste zone.

But even more nauseating than the Open Neck Wound woman was the family of tourists sitting a few seats down. The mother and father wore fluorescent fanny packs and both kids proudly sported tee-shirts and baseball caps that proclaimed "I Love New York".

Sure, Risa thought. Give it some time.

She remembered how much she had loved New York when she was a child and her family still lived in the city. She'd loved how busy it was, how alive. Now she could only see the filth, the violence, and the despair. It was bound to happen in her line of work.

It had been a long night. First there was the would-be rapist that she lured into the bathroom at the back of a dance club. Then the punk that had tried to mug a mother of four on her way home after a double shift. The skinny guy that smelled of stale sweat that was selling crack. And finally, just as she was about to make her way back home, there was the group of teenagers that jumped a girl on the subway platform.

Risa had killed them all. Just a quick snap of the neck and it was over. So many humans walked around, believing themselves to be invincible. But she was all too aware that, in reality, humans were painfully fragile.

As the subway lurched, the burly man next to Risa jostled her, and then remained too close. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the man was staring down at her chest. She turned and elbowed him in the side, pretending that it had been an accident.

When the man didn't seem to take the hint, Risa began coughing in his direction, working up a good amount of phlegm in her throat. She wiped her hand on the man's shirt. "Oh, sorry," she croaked. "My consumption is getting worse. I hope it's not contagious."

Curling his lip in disgust, the man stepped back from her.

Risa smiled. It was the little things that got her through the day.

Finally, she reached her stop and aggressively pushed her way onto the platform. She was immediately assaulted by the familiar smell of urine and ammonia. It seemed to be the official scent of the New York City subway system and even after all these years, Risa couldn't help wrinkling her nose.

From the subway station, she had a two mile walk to the house. The early morning air was chilly, so she pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head and slipped her gloved hands into the pockets. It had been colder during the night, of course, but Risa never seemed to feel it until she was on her way home.

The streets were emptier here, the sky-rise apartment buildings giving way to duplexes and single family homes. Technically, Risa still lived within the city limits, but she felt that it was far enough out to be a sort of refuge. The pace was slower, the noise softer, the air cleaner. Or maybe it was all in her head.

This neighborhood was still a far cry from Greenwich, where her family now lived. The wealthy Connecticut town was populated with enormous houses, small antique shops, and had four local beaches along the Long Island Sound. It had been a quiet, albeit rather boring, place to grow up. Risa missed it.

The large, old house that she now stayed in had once been occupied by a single family many decades ago. But in the 1960s, the house had been divided into seven small apartments. Risa was fairly sure that that was the last time any work had been done on the house. The brown paint on the outside was chipping, the windows were drafty, and the radiators barely worked in the winter. But, it was the best place that she could afford.

At first glance, Risa's apartment seemed vacant. All of the walls were bare. In the minuscule kitchen, there was a folding table, a wooden chair, and a single set of dishes in the dish drain. The living room was empty except for a trunk that was filled with an assortment of weapons. Risa kept her hardwood floors uncovered so that she could practice her martial art techniques more easily.

The only obvious signs of life were in her bedroom. She had a twin bed against one wall, a small, rickety desk with a laptop open on top of it, and a large pile of clothes in front of the closet door. She could never seem to find the motivation to fold them after she washed them.

She ought to buy a television, read some books, find a hobby. She knew that she _really_ should do something besides work. Maybe try to socialize, actually talk to someone. In short, Risa needed a life.

She'd had one once, even after her father died. For years she'd gone to school, talked with friends, played with her little sister, spent her weekends shopping at the mall and watching movies. But that was before her work had demanded more and more of her, driving her into the streets night after night.

Risa walked towards the bathroom, peeling off her soiled clothes on the way. She couldn't wait to get into the shower. When she got back to her apartment in the morning, she would always stand under scalding water for a full half an hour, trying to burn off the city's residue. She skin was red by the time she got out.

Wiping at the mirror, Risa stared at her reflection. As always, she hated what she saw. Her dark hair was too glossy and her hazel eyes were too pale and luminescent. Everything about her was eerily beautiful, even the four scars that ran across her pale skin. It was entirely obvious to her that the girl in the reflection wasn't human; she didn't understand how people could miss it.

But then, she had gone sixteen years without noticing the unnatural perfection of people that she occasionally passed on the street, sat next to on the subway, cheated off of in class. Night People were everywhere and humans turned a blind eye to the things they could not explain.

Risa combed out her hair and collapsed naked on her bed. With a soft moan, she pulled a blanket over her and closed her eyes. She was so tired, but her mind drifted…

She thought of the way she used to look, before she'd been changed. Just a simple pretty girl, without all the supernatural gloss. In fact, she had never really paid attention to her appearance at all. There were far more important things to concentrate on. She'd always felt unremarkable, until the night that Jonas Carden's dark brown eyes widened as he looked at her. Even when she was human, he'd seemed to think that she was exquisite.

She thought of Greenwich, just a few miles away, and wondered what class her sister was in right now, what her mother was doing. It was better not to dwell on those things, but Risa couldn't help it. Her mind touched upon everything that caused a sharp twist in her gut.

After a time, Risa realized that she couldn't fall asleep. Her thoughts would not fade. They kept circling around and around.

Then, in the stillness of her room, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck standing at attention. She lay for a while, listening to her breath and to the beating of her heart, waiting. When the sensation didn't pass, she sat up in frustration. That's when she saw that she'd left her window open. The breeze must have been too cold.

After she slammed the window shut, she lay back down. But still, she found herself listening intently to the silence around her, trying to discern…something. She spent too much time in silence. Suddenly she wished that she had a TV, just for the noise. Just to bring her out of her own head, away from thoughts and memories that kept her trapped, running in circles.

For now she settled on an old method. She pictured herself lying in the grass on the lawn of her family's house. She imagined the sun, warm on her skin, and coolness of the ground beneath her. She concentrated on the smell of the air and the blades of grass that tickled her bare arms and legs. Risa gave herself up to the dream, not letting her mind drift back to darker places, and finally fell asleep.


	2. Battle Ground

"What's she doing?" Ian asked her from across the room. He was lying on the couch with his arm resting over his eyes, as he often did when they were supposed to be working. The TV was left on "The Price is Right," even though he wasn't watching it.

"Sleeping," Hollis Pasquale replied shortly.

That made Ian bolt upright with a lecherous grin. "Naked again?"

Hollis rolled her eyes. Watching the subject walk around the apartment naked was the one part of the assignment that Ian was consistently interested in. "She has a blanket on, pervert."

"Damn," he grumbled, lying back down. "You should have told me when she was getting into bed."

"Well if you were doing your job instead of lounging around, you would have seen it. Not that I would condone that sort of behavior. In fact, I think it's disgusting. I'm just saying that—"

"Okay, Holl," Ian interrupted her, sounding bored. He made a flippant gesture with his hand, as if he were brushing her away like a fly that was annoying him. "I get it. Shut up now."

"You don't have to—"

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up."

Hollis stood up from her chair so fast that she knocked it over. She whipped around and stormed over to her partner. "I've had it with your disrespect! We are _partners_, in case you forgot. You cannot talk to me that way. And you can't keep dumping your responsibilities on me, Ian. So get your act together, or I'll call Daybreak and petition to have you removed."

Ian looked back at her blandly. "You're blocking my view of the TV, princess."

Hollis punched him in the stomach and Ian curled up, choking on his own breath and laughter. She didn't believe in senseless violence, but Ian McCafferty seemed to pride himself on driving her over the edge, leaving her convictions in the dust. They had been on assignment together for ten days and by the second day Hollis had already felt that she was developing a raging ulcer.

Shaking, she righted her chair and sat back down in front of her laptop. Resting her head in her hands, she tried to will away her headache without success. She was exhausted—overworked and tired of constantly battling with Ian. It would have been kinder for him to use his preternatural strength against her, knocking her down with a single punch. At least, then, his cruelty would be over after a moment. Instead, Ian used words as his weapons, constantly needling and mocking her. He was systematically stripping away her confidence and her sanity.

Hollis had only been working for Circle Daybreak for a year, but she had always been treated with respect by her co-workers. They'd never seemed to look down on her for being human, nor had they lost patience with her when she had questions about the Night World. Everyone that Hollis had met had been kind and enthusiastic. That is, until Daybreak had paired her with Ian.

She had been seated by her supervisor's desk when Ian had been called in. His first words, as he boldly ran his gaze over her body, had been, "Nutrition or recreation?" Hollis should have refused to work with Ian that very moment, but she'd been too proud and too eager to please—qualities that her partner had discerned and hadn't ceased to exploit since that day.

Brushing her blond hair out of her face, she tried to refocus on her assignment. The image on the computer screen hadn't changed. The subject, Risa Sinclair, was still sleeping, unaware that she was being watched from a hidden camera mounted in the overhead light of the bedroom. The picture was black-and-white, the resolution wasn't great, and there was a time-delay, but Hollis was grateful that they had eyes in there.

Breaking into the apartment to plant the cameras had been a gutsy move on Ian's part because he hadn't known how much security the subject had set up. Luckily, though it seemed strange, Risa Sinclair hadn't installed anything more than a new deadbolt on her apartment door. Ian had picked the lock easily and set up enough cameras to view each room in its entirety.

Too bad he hadn't done any work since.

Hollis glanced back to glare at her partner. Ian had his eyes closed, appearing to be perfectly relaxed, even as Hollis was still grinding her teeth. He was the most irritating and infuriating Daybreaker that she'd ever met. He partied late, slept late, ran up huge room service bills, and barely worked. Several times, he'd taken advantage of their adjoining hotel rooms and had barged in on her while Hollis was changing. And even more frustrating, he seemed completely apathetic to all of her threats to report him to her supervisor. Though, to be fair, Hollis suspected that this was because he knew that she would never carry any of them out. Not getting along with a partner would look bad for her as well as for Ian. She could be mistaken for a person that was not a team player. And, in all honesty, she didn't want him to know that he'd gotten the best of her.

While his eyes were closed, Hollis swept her gaze over his face. Physically, Ian was remarkable. With his unkempt dark hair, impossibly long eyelashes, and delicate bone structure, he resembled an actor that Hollis had seen, but she couldn't recall the name. She never paid much attention to such inane things. And besides, most of the Daybreakers who had defected from the Night World were gorgeous.

"You know, Holl, it's really hard to fall asleep when someone is staring at you," Ian said.

Startled and embarrassed, Hollis twisted back around in her chair. Her cheeks were burning. He probably thought that she was ogling him, just like every other girl did. Goddess, she was _not_ like that. She had a brain in her head. Hollis had graduated at the top of her class in high school and in college. When Circle Daybreak had recruited her, she was getting ready to go to Africa for two years with the Peace Corps. If she was going to be interested in a guy, it certainly wouldn't be some lazy, pretty boy.

She should say something clever back, but no words came to her. And as the silence stretched out, Hollis realized that it was too late to brush away his remark with a sarcastic comment of her own. She tapped her fingernails nervously on the desk, deciding to simply ignore him.

Twenty-three years old and she was behaving like a fourth-grader. This was he did to her.

"What?" Ian asked from behind her. "No snipe about how I shouldn't be sleeping on the job anyway?"

Hollis cleared her throat. He was giving her an out, she realized with bewilderment. A reprieve from the awkwardness of the moment. It wasn't much, but it seemed to be a peace offering. Grateful, Hollis accepted it. "Would it help?" she asked.

"Probably not."

"Then I guess I'd rather save my breath for now."

Ian snickered. "I'm wearing you down, princess."

Hollis bit down on a smile. "Keep dreaming."

She heard Ian rolling over on the couch. "Don't mind if I do."

On the computer screen, Risa Sinclair jerked upright in her sleep, then fell back down to the pillow. Hollis had seen her do that several times before. She had written in her notes that the subject didn't seem to sleep well. Could this be a mitigating factor for her actions? Or perhaps it was simply a guilty conscience that tormented her. Even after ten days of observation, Hollis wasn't sure where she stood on the issue. And as for her partner…

"Do you even care?" Hollis found herself asking him softly.

"Of course not." Ian's voice was muffled by the cushions. "I'm just a lazy, pretty boy. Remember?"

Hollis flushed again. She didn't think she would ever get used to being around a telepath. She'd been taught how to block her thoughts, but it wasn't second nature yet and she still caught herself lapsing.

She started to apologize clumsily. "I never meant—"

"Yes," he broke in. "You did."

Shame, embarrassment, and indignation collided. "Well you've never given me any reason to think otherwise!" she snapped over her shoulder.

There was silence behind her and for once, Hollis thought that she might have won.

"No," Ian finally said. "I haven't."

"Then how can you possibly make me feel so guilty?"

"A person can't _make_ you feel anything, princess. Your reactions are your own. So maybe you should ask yourself that question."

Game. Set. Match. As always.

Hollis gave up and concentrated on her computer screen. At least when Ian was sleeping, he wasn't ripping her to shreds. At the rate they were going, there would be nothing left to her by the time this assignment was done.

* * *

Being back in New York was creepy. In eight years, nothing and everything had changed. It was still a city that dazzled and depressed him. There was extensive opulence as well as rampant destitution. It was all so familiar, and yet it was very different from his memories. The buildings and blocks seemed, somehow, out of proportion. The size and shape of his surroundings felt warped, as if he were dreaming. 

But regardless, as soon as the taxi entered Manhattan, Carden felt something inside him stir. He was home. And it was going to kill him. The sites and smells were painfully familiar, evoking memories that he'd buried long ago…

Risa's wrinkled nose as he dared to eat a hotdog from a street vendor. Didn't he know that thing was _poison_? Sure, he was immortal, but did he really want _Giardia_ taking up residence in his gut?

Her laugh as he stood, star-struck after spotting David Duchovny in Central Park. He had managed to keep his addiction to "The X Files" a secret from her until that moment. Jonas Carden, self-proclaimed badass, Daybreak assassin, vampire privy to the secrets of the Night World, was hooked on a TV show about the supernatural. And once Risa knew, she teased him about it relentlessly. But she still stood on line with him for two hours to get seats the night the movie opened.

Her body moving with the pulse of the music, wearing an outfit that made his jaw drop. Clad in spandex, satin, and patent leather as she tried to draw out predators in the night club.

Her blood flowing down her arm, dripping onto the sidewalk as he carried her home, half-dead. The blue veins that formed a web under her translucent skin. Her hiss as he tried to stitch up the deep gashes on her body, using vodka to sterilize his work.

The cab driver leaned on the horn, startling Carden back into the present. He slid across the seat and slammed his shoulder into the door in the back of the cab as the driver careened around a tight corner at forty miles an hour. It was the fifth time that this had happened since they'd left the airport. Just as he righted himself, the car screeched to a stop, only inches away from the car in front of them, sending Carden's head flying into the back of the driver's seat. He quickly sat back and buckled his seatbelt. He may be immortal, but he really didn't want a broken nose.

Smiling, he pictured how Risa would laugh if he tried to explain that his perfect profile, which he prided himself on, was ruined because he'd been too stupid to wear a seatbelt. She'd always said that he was too vain for his own good. But hell, he was hot and he knew it. Why pretend otherwise?

_Because being vain negates the attractiveness of your looks_, she would say. _Nobody likes a narcissist, Carden_.

_You do, sweetheart. And we both know it._ He came up behind her, put his mouth to her ear._ If you didn't, you wouldn't let me— _

The cab drove through a pothole and Carden hit his head on the roof of the car as it bounced. Not a moment too soon. He knew exactly where that argument with Risa had led and he didn't want to think about it.

This trip was strictly business, he reminded himself. He would not talk to her. She would not know that he was here. No fraternizing. He had to stop letting his memories bombard him. There had been some good times with Risa, yes, and plenty of bad times as well. None of that mattered. It was all in the past and there was nothing he could do about it. He needed to concentrate on the present.

The driver slammed on the brakes to bring the taxi to another sharp stop. The seatbelt caught around Carden's stomach as he flew forward and he was grateful that he hadn't eaten yet today.

"Your hotel," the driver said.

Carden paid the fare and got out of the car, thankful to be standing on solid ground. He had only one bag with him and it was filled with his laptop and clothes that he'd already worn in Washington, DC. He was going to need to find a store to buy clothes for tomorrow. Well, he'd chosen to stay at a hotel in Manhattan and there was certainly no shortage of stores there.

But first, a room. He walked into the lobby of the Hudson Hotel and sauntered over to the desk. Working there was an older gray-haired man and a cute blond girl. Catching her eyes, Carden approached the blond girl with a practiced, sheepish smile.

"Hey, gorgeous," he purred. "Can you help me with something?"

Five minutes later, he'd obtained a suite in the over-booked hotel and the girl's phone number. In case he wanted someone to show him around the city, she'd said. Carden smirked. If he called that girl, he bet that the only place he would see was her bedroom. And maybe her bathroom, living room floor, kitchen table. A few days ago he would've been very tempted, but now Risa was the only thing that he could think about. But once he'd seen her, he could put her out of his mind. Then, maybe, he would call up the blond.

The hotel suite was large and luxurious, as Carden was accustomed to. He supposed that he shouldn't squander his money like this. He was technically unemployed, now that Circle Daybreak had given him the boot. He couldn't blame them, though. To protect Risa's life, he'd given up a Wild Power and, if given the chance, he would do it again.

Carden hadn't given much thought to what he would do after he got back to LA. His previous job experience didn't exactly prepare him for a career in customer service or anything. And he certainly didn't have the personality for it. Whenever Carden crossed paths with stupid people, he had to fight the urge to put their heads through a wall. If he dealt with them all day, it would only be a matter of time before he hurt someone or threw himself onto a stake.

But he thought that he might be pretty good at law enforcement. Maybe he could be a cop for a while, at least until his coworkers noticed that he didn't seem to age. Makeup and hair dye would only work for maybe fifteen or twenty years.

Risa's father had been a cop, he remembered. NYPD for sixteen years, until he'd been killed trying to stop an armed robbery. Risa had been nine years old at the time and her little sister had only been a baby. That's when their mother decided to take the girls out of the city, so they could grow up somewhere safer. Not that it had kept Risa safe. But then, she was the one who sought out danger, not the other way around.

Carden sometimes wondered what Risa would have been like if her father hadn't died the way he did. She might never have come to the conclusion that she was personally responsible for the terrible, inexplicable things that sometimes happened to people. She might have been happy.

He looked at the clock on the bedside table. Sunset was still a few hours away and, unless Risa's hunting habits had changed, she wouldn't be out until after that.

_The worst scum don't come out until after dark_, she would say. _Cowards, all of them._ And then she would look at him with a hatred in her eyes that scared him. She looked as if she'd been possessed. And really, she had been. As soon as the sun set, she became nothing more than a vehicle for her hate. He remembered how, the night he met her, he had admired the way that she carried herself, as if her body was merely a machine. It was a long time before Carden had noticed the ugliness of the force driving her.

Eight years later, he didn't know what to expect. Maybe she didn't hunt any more. Maybe she'd moved on and now lived a peaceful and boring existence in the suburbs with someone who loved her. But he didn't think so. If anything, Carden was afraid that her obsession had gotten worse and that it was his fault.

He looked out the window. The room had a lovely view of the wall of the building next door, only a few feet away. Carden pulled the heavy curtains shut and the hotel room fell into darkness. He kicked off his shoes and lay back onto the king-sized bed. He had a few hours to kill and he hadn't slept in days.

As soon as he shut his eyes, his cell phone rang again. Carden dug it out of his back pocket and checked the caller ID. Reece Cahill again. He wanted to ignore the call, like he had all of the others, but it was becoming obvious that dodging the witch wouldn't work.

Back in Washington, Carden had told Circle Daybreak that he'd betrayed a Wild Power to save his own life from Aiden St. Helen. In truth, he had done it to protect Risa, but he didn't want Daybreak to know that. His work was dangerous, and admitting that he had a soulmate exposed his Achilles heel. And it was Aiden, himself, who had advised Carden to guard his weaknesses better.

Reece Cahill was the only person who didn't buy the story. He seemed like the type of person that wanted to see the goodness in everybody. But what the witch didn't know was that, whether Carden had sacrificed a Wild Power to save himself or to save his soulmate, it didn't matter. He'd still chosen his personal interests over the mission. Daybreak was right to kick him out.

Carden's phone chirped again and he finally answered it. "What?" he snarled.

"Why didn't you answer my calls?" Cahill yelled back at him. "We were worried about you after the attack. You could have let us know that you were still alive, you ass."

"Who is this?"

"Carden!"

The vampire had to laugh. The witch hadn't pulled any punches, even from the start. It was good to hear his exasperated voice; it made Carden feel more like himself. "I'm alive," he replied nonchalantly. "I'm too stubborn to die, remember? Happy now?"

Cahill didn't sound appeased. "Where are you?" he asked accusingly.

"I'm lying drunk in a ditch by the Anacostia River."

"What?"

Carden smiled dryly. "Kidding. Sarcasm. Look it up some time." Then he sighed. "Look, I'm just taking care of something. No big deal."

"Yeah? Then why did you sneak out of the compound?"

"Fine," Carden ground out. "It is a big deal and I don't want to discuss it."

"Okay. That, I can respect."

"Where are you? Were you or the Wild Power hurt in the attacks? What about Nigel?"

"I'm fine," Cahill replied in an unusually mechanical tone. "Lex and Nigel are both okay, as well. I'm driving back to Montreal with Lex now. We should get there tomorrow night, maybe."

A sudden stab of envy. "Good," he said, shakily. His weak voice surprised him a little. Carden cleared his throat. "You need a good lay, Cahill." Ah, that sounded better.

The witch sighed into the phone. "Screw you."

"You wish."

"If you need any help, you know how to reach me."

Cahill hung up, but Carden still held his phone to his ear as if he were waiting for something. Damned if he knew what. After a minute, he snapped it shut and threw it to the other side of the bed.

He lay back down, wanting to sleep. He needed to sleep. But ultimately, his mind drifted back to Risa and his heart would beat erratically. In just a few hours, he would see her. He wasn't sure how he was going to find her, but it was only a matter of time before he did.

Would she look the same? Well, of course, she would. Risa was a vampire now. She wouldn't appear to be a day older than she had eight years ago. But maybe her hair was different, maybe her style of clothing had changed, maybe she had gotten a tattoo. Though, few vampires got tattoos. Humans worried about living with one for fifty or sixty years. Vampires had to imagine centuries or millennia with it.

Would her eyes look the same? Would the sadness and weight of unbearable responsibility still darken them? Carden had watched the inner light in her eyes dim, night after night. Maybe, by now, there was nothing left.

Of all the questions that shot through his mind, like a bullet to his brain, there was really only one that mattered. And in the end, it was the one question that would not be answered because he would not let her see him. It was the question that kept him awake, that made a cold shudder shoot down his spine whenever he allowed himself pay attention to it.

Would Risa still hate him?


	3. Restless

_The blades of grass were a vivid shade of green against the darkness of the grave before her. The bright sun reflected off the glossy finish of the coffin, bringing tears to her eyes. But her eyesight be damned, she wasn't going to look away from her father until the coffin was in the ground and covered by dirt._

_Cori was a warm weight in her arms and they were both sweating in the summer heat. Risa was sobbing silently, her lips trembling with pain. Her sister's soft cheek was pressed against her own as she babbled and twisted in Risa's hold. Cori was not able to talk yet, and was not able to understand what was happening. For the infant, today was just another day to play._

_The mourners around them cried loudly. Risa felt a hand on her shoulder and, startled, her gaze shifted from her father's coffin as she looked behind her. But there was no one there. Glancing around, she saw that there wasn't anyone with her any more. She was alone with her baby sister in the cemetery. When she looked back at her father's grave, it was already covered with grass and flowers. How much time had passed?_

_Better get home. Risa adjusted her hold on Cori and began to walk towards the entrance of the graveyard. A strong, cold wind blew and a thick layer of gray clouds swept overhead, blocking out the sun. Shivering in the darkness, she started to run with Cori crying in her arms._

_Just as she was about to reach the entrance, a heavy iron gate slammed shut. She pulled on the bars, but the gate wouldn't budge. She stepped away and ran her hand along the stone wall surrounding the cemetery. Risa knew that she couldn't climb over it while carrying Cori and she couldn't leave her sister alone here, in the dark._

_There was the sound of footsteps crushing the grass behind her. Close. She was being followed._

_Reaching into her pocket, Risa grasped her father's police badge, a cold weight in her fingers. She propped Cori on her hip and, with one hand, clutched her sister protectively. Whipping around, Risa looked for the stalker as she held out the badge with her other hand, like a talisman. _

_There was a dark, rolling laugh over her shoulder. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. She turned, heaving the police badge as hard as she could. But it disappeared in midair and she was left with nothing for protection._

_And the stalker was still there. Watching her. Laughing at her._

_Cori screamed shrilly as Risa felt her sister being ripped out of her arms by an invisible force. She tried to pull back, grabbing Cori's chubby legs, but it was no use. _

_Then the baby was just gone. _

_Risa cried her sister's name, running against the fierce wind in the cemetery, trying to find Cori. She tripped over a rock and fell forward into an empty grave that suddenly appeared before her. She tumbled down for so long, feeling weightless and alone. Her cries echoed. When she landed, Risa saw that she was in a pit, hundreds of feet underground. _

_She heard Cori shrieking above her and she desperately tried to claw her way out. But there was nothing to grab on to. The walls of the grave were wet with mud and she slipped back down, over and over again._

_The dark laugh surrounded her and wisps of dirt fell on her head. Risa tried to brush it off, the grains feeling like insects crawling on her skin. But the dirt began to pile on top of her, mounds at a time, so cold and heavy. Cori was still screaming for her, but Risa couldn't move under the weight of the dirt. She tried to cry out, but the earth spilled into her open mouth, choking her. _

_And Cori was still screaming…_

Risa opened her eyes and realized that she was sitting up in her bed, screaming and coughing simultaneously. It took an immense effort to make herself stop and catch her breath. She wiped her sweaty face and peeled the blanket from her damp skin. The cool air felt good, even as she shivered.

A dream, just a dream. It was a recurring nightmare that had plagued her long before she'd been changed into a vampire. It was nothing. No, nothing.

Brushing back her tangled hair, Risa stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face, to chase away the last of the fog that clouded her mind.

Everything was fine.

After throwing on some clothes, she checked the time and dismally looked at the light spilling through her window. Darkness was falling later as spring approached and it made Risa restless. She usually woke up late in the afternoon. In the dead of winter, when the days were so short, she could roll out of bed and immediately leave for the city. But now, as the sun was setting later and later, there was a growing lag time before she could go and Risa simply didn't know what to do with herself.

People were out there now, in daylight, committing acts of violence that she didn't want to imagine. But Risa couldn't hunt before dark. It was too dangerous for her. The streets were too crowded and there were fewer places for her to hide. Her height and her looks tended to draw attention, and that was the very last thing she needed. Anonymity kept her alive so that she could kill another day.

So Risa waited, striving to keep her patience. The days were only going to get longer for the next few months. She had to get used to it. But somehow she found it harder each year.

She stood with her legs together and bent down, placing her palms flat on the floor in front of her toes. Her muscles were stiff after last night and she was still shaky from the dream.

How many times had she woken up like that, with Cori's name on her lips as she tried to breathe through an imaginary mass of dirt? Even in the dream, Risa knew what was coming, but she went through the same motions, time after time. No matter how hard she held on, Cori was always torn away from her. She always tripped into the grave, no matter how carefully she stepped. In the end, Risa always failed.

A tear dripped on the floor by her feet and she realized that she was crying. She was still bending over in the stretch and her head hurt from the blood rushing into it. Slowly, Risa stood up, feeling the world spin. She braced herself against the wall to keep herself from falling.

"Fuck," she whispered. With the back of her hand, she roughly scrubbed the wetness from her cheek. Damn, she really wanted to leave. Killing was the only thing that helped her shake off a dream like that.

Impatiently, she paced. She shadowboxed. Paced again. Anything to keep moving. Motion kept the past at bay.

When she couldn't think of anything else to do, Risa went into her kitchen. Opening her fridge, she took out a blood bag, checking to make sure that it was still fresh. Often, she felt too busy to feed and by the time her body was on the verge of collapse, she would find that her blood had coagulated. Thankfully, her supply was good for another few days.

The taste of blood still shocked her every time she fed. Vaguely, Risa remembered the coppery flavor of her own human blood in her mouth after a difficult night of hunting. But now that she was a vampire, it tasted entirely different. Even after all this time, she lacked the words to describe it. The richest chocolate, the sweetest strawberry, the coldest water…it was all of these and none of these. God it was good, perfect. The only thing that would surpass this was drinking the warm blood directly from a human.

She'd never done it. She had killed more humans than she could possibly remember, but she had never allowed herself to feed from one. It was too tempting. If she ever started, even just drinking from the scourge of society that she was going to kill anyway, maybe she wouldn't be able to stop. Maybe, one day she would sink her fangs into the throat of an innocent person. And what frightened her more than anything was that, maybe, when that day came, she wouldn't care.

So much evil in the world. How easy it must be to fall into it. Risa didn't delude herself into thinking that she was immune; no one was. And there were certainly times, days when she woke up with blood under her fingernails, when she wondered if she had somehow crossed over the line without realizing it.

Risa threw out the empty bag of blood and sighed. What was wrong with her?

It wasn't quite dusk yet, but it was probably good enough. She needed to get out of here and get to work. She'd feel better once she was in the city.

She grabbed some cash and opened the large trunk of weapons in her living room. These days, she preferred to take advantage of her strength and break her victim's neck. It was simple and clean. But sometimes the people she hunted didn't want to go down that way. And of course, she did occasionally have to exterminate a Night Person, so she needed to be prepared for that as well. So she strapped a silver knife to one forearm and a few stakes to the other. Lastly, she wore two guns, one at each hip, in a holster that she hid under her sweatshirt.

Risa glanced in the mirror on her way out, avoiding looking at her face, to make sure that the bulges under her sweatshirt weren't too obvious. Not bad. It was fortunate that kids tended to wear such baggy clothes.

During the long walk to the subway station, she struggled with the same decision that she had to make every night: where to hunt. New York was a large city with millions of people and she was just one person. The thought always depressed her. There was so little that she could actually do in one night, even as a vampire. Was she really making a difference? No matter how many damnable people she removed from the city, there were always more. Was it even worth it?

Carden had asked her that countless times. In her mind, it was sometimes the only thing she could remember him saying. That, perhaps, along with "I'm sorry." But he certainly hadn't been sorry enough.

Risa frowned. It was never a good idea to let herself think about Carden. Whatever doubts she had, whatever sadness or loneliness she carried, they only got worse when she started thinking about him. And she was already too unsteady tonight.

Besides, he never had any right to question how worthwhile her work was. Not when he worked for Circle Daybreak, a group that seemed to spend more time defending itself than helping others. Maybe when the apocalypse came, _if_ it came, and Daybreak fulfilled all of the so-called prophecies that their witches were always stumbling upon, Risa would change her mind. But right now, Daybreak seemed as pointless as the Night World. It existed only to fight for its existence.

But Risa, she needed to fight for the existence of others. As she approached the subway station, she began to stride. The wind picked up and blew her long hair back. She lifted her arms out to her sides and let the air blow against her open palms. It reminded her of the cold wind in her dream and she felt a surge of power. She was no longer some weak, little girl who was afraid of the darkness. She was going to wreak some havoc tonight. That was for damn sure.

May the wicked beware. Risa was going to send them all to hell.

* * *

"She's moving," he heard Hollis say. Ian glanced at his watch and saw that it had been two minutes since the last time she had spoken. It was a new record. He really must be taking a toll on her. Thank the Goddess. It only took ten days for the girl to learn.

Ian was stretched out on his hotel bed, resting his head on his arm as he listlessly flipped through the TV stations. His back was killing him. The king-size bed was too soft and the couch was too hard. He spent the majority of his time in the room going from one to the other, trying in vain to get comfortable.

It wasn't the worst hotel room that he'd ever had. He'd spent more than his share of time in seedy travel lodges that didn't change the bedding between guests. The place they were in now was clean, had room service, and was only a block away from the subject's apartment.

But still, Ian was restless. So far, this was the most boring assignment he'd ever been dealt. He'd been an assassin for Circle Daybreak since its inception. It was a passive group, striving to make all of the races on the planet get along, but even Daybreak recognized when certain opponents could not be reasoned with. Despite all of their efforts, there were still those in the Night World, and even a few hunters in the human world, who believed that the other races should be put down. Crazy, yes. But some of these people were charismatic and, with promises of a glorious new world, they drew followers, organizing small armies. They attacked their enemies on all sides, not caring how many of their own soldiers were lost. As long as the leader was alive, there would always be more followers to replace them.

That was when people like Ian were needed. Circle Daybreak would give him every scrap of information on the target and a fair sum of money. Ian would spend time shadowing the subject, getting to know his movements and planning the best way to strike. Within days, the target would be dead and, as long as Daybreak got to the leader early enough, the makeshift armies would crumble. Peace could once again be possible.

Though he might argue it in front of others, Ian didn't care all that much about the money he was given. He actually believed in the importance of his work. He'd seen the kind of damage a single madman could do and sometimes the only way to prevent it was to kill. And the truth was that Ian was damn good at killing.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't have the patience for reconnaissance. In the past year, Circle Daybreak had changed its policies. Instead of having a team investigate the target and then hand the information off to someone else for the kill, the assassin was now required to be a part of the investigation team. It was felt that the assassin should know the target more intimately, perhaps to make killing the person a more difficult decision. It was easy enough sometimes to condemn someone to die, but if you were the one who was required to pull the trigger, it might make you think twice about the death sentence. Daybreak wanted to spare as many lives as it could.

But for Ian, being stuck in a hotel room with Hollis Pasquale while she constantly nagged him was only making him think more seriously about putting his gun in his own mouth. Or maybe hers.

"Ian!" his partner shouted.

He was tempted to ignore her again, just to rile her up. Even though it was ridiculously easy, there was something so entertaining about making this girl mad. Ian never got tired of it. Just as she was about to shout his name again, he asked, "What can I do for you, princess?"

Hollis shut her mouth and seemed to be grinding her teeth. "I said: the subject is moving," she replied tightly.

Ian flipped through a few more channels, not looking at her. "So? She moves around this time every night."

"Well I think it's obvious by now that she's not going to bring any evidence back to her apartment. We're going to have to follow her. If we don't have the proof we need…"

Ian zoned out while his partner droned on about the assignment. Again. She'd been lecturing him about it incessantly for the past ten days, as if he was incapable of retaining a thought. Did she really think he was that dense or was it that she had no life beyond work to talk about? Probably a bit of both.

From what he'd read in her file, Hollis was a textbook example of an overachiever. She graduated from high school two years early with a long list of honors and extracurricular activities. In college, she double majored in political science and computer science, graduating with a 4.0 GPA. She was president of the school's chapter of Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, the Honors Council, Alpha Phi Omega…blah, blah, blah.

Frankly, her record made Ian sick. On paper, she seemed like the kind of person who worked hard and took part in a thousand activities just so that it would look good on her resume. Did she ever stop to really learn? Did she ever stop to care? Or were the people she helped and the grades she earned just stepping stones to get her into some cushy corner office?

Did she ever actually live? Or was she saving that for later? Didn't she know that there might never be a later?

Ian stared at the TV screen for a long moment before turning to Hollis. She was looking at him expectantly. He was torn between wanting to aggravate her or jumping on the chance to leave the room and actually _do_ something. He'd been stuck here for so long. And he'd told Hollis _days_ ago that they weren't going to get any evidence on the subject by sitting and watching her apartment. She had refused to listen to him.

He guessed that was the reason why, in the end, he just couldn't help himself. "Do you know what time Jeopardy comes on?" he asked her mildly.

Hollis's pale skin turned a deep shade of red. It happened whenever she was angry or embarrassed. Ian wondered if she flushed like that when she laughed. Did she even know how to laugh? He had yet to see her even crack a smile.

"You are such an incredible jerk," she hissed.

Just when he thought that she was about to launch into another fit of shouting about his laziness, Hollis quietly stood up and walked through the door adjoining their hotel rooms, slamming it behind her.

Ian let out his breath, feeling a little guilty. He had been pretty hard on her since they'd been paired together. But it ran both ways. He heard all of the derogatory remarks that went through her mind. From the first moment she'd laid eyes on him, Hollis had looked at him like he was a bug that she wanted to neatly crush with a tissue and flush down the toilet. Goddess forbid she got her fingers dirty.

How could she blame him now when he was simply acting as she had expected him to? It was her fault, really.

There were no sounds coming from her side of the door. She must not be calling up their supervisor to have Ian removed from her sight. Not that he expected her to do it. She cared too much about her reputation as a nice girl who got along with everyone. But what the hell was she doing in there, then? This wasn't the typical response that Ian elicited from her.

After a few more minutes passed by, curiosity got the better of him. Ian slid off the bed and knocked on their adjoining door.

"Hollis?" There was no answer. "Come on, princess. Open up."

When she still didn't answer him, Ian reached out to read her thoughts, but he only hit a brick wall. Great, now she remembered to shield herself.

Fine. She'd left him no choice. Ian opened the door slightly and prayed that he wasn't about to walk in on her half-naked again. His eardrums were still bleeding from the last time. When he didn't hear a scream, he pushed the door open a little further and looked around her room.

Hollis wasn't there.

Her bed was perfectly made, even though they had requested that housekeeping not tend to their rooms until they checked out. Ian snorted. She probably slept on top of the bed, just to keep from messing up the blankets.

"Hello?" he called, walking towards the bathroom. But the door was open and the light was off.

Ian looked over at the closet and saw that her coat was missing. So were her shoes. Maybe she had just gone for a walk to cool off.

But he had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He went back into his own room and walked around to look at her computer screen. Hollis was right: the subject's apartment was empty. Risa Sinclair was, indeed, on the move.

Ian opened his mind and concentrated on the thoughts of the humans nearby, scanning for his partner. He finally got a glimpse of Hollis's yellow coat in the eyes of someone on the street. And not fifty feet in front of her was Risa Sinclair.

"Oh no," he whispered. "You idiot!"

Hollis had gone to follow the subject by herself. She was not trained for that kind of work. Her job was to be the tech nerd and Ian was supposed to do the field work. What was she thinking?

He didn't have time to figure it out. Ian thrust his feet into his boots and grabbed his keycard off the dresser. He ran down to the end of the hall and burst into the stairwell. After making sure that it was empty, Ian leapt over the railing and landed gracefully on the ground floor, thankful that it had only been a three-story jump.

Dashing out into the lobby and then onto the street, Ian headed for the subway station. He was sure that the subject was going into the city for some slaughtering, as she usually did. Her work would be found all over the police reports the next day.

He kept searching for Hollis in the eyes of others, to be sure that his partner was still alive. She was walking too closely to the subject and was embarrassingly conspicuous in her puffy, yellow coat. It was hard for him to run and focus on telepathy at the same time, but he wouldn't take the chance of calling out to her with his mind. He might be able to bore through Hollis's mental shields, but Risa Sinclair was too close. If the subject heard him, the entire mission would be screwed.

Ian turned a corner and then descended down the first flight of stairs into the subway station. There was a train coming in now; he could hear it and was relieved. Hollis had already paid the fare and gone through the turnstiles, but the train would still leave before she got to it. She would be stuck on the platform, waiting for the next one. Then Ian could grab her and shake the daylights out of her.

But the images that he began to see showed that she was running. There must have been a delay, because the train hadn't pulled out yet. Risa Sinclair was hurrying to catch it, and of course, Hollis was following suit.

Ian used his supernatural speed, not caring who saw him, to try to catch up to his partner. He was a blur as he jumped over the turnstiles and sprinted down the next flight of stairs onto the platform. But he got there just in time to watch the train speed through the tunnel as it headed toward the city.


	4. Deadly Sins

By 2:30AM, Carden had been propositioned by eleven different prostitutes, he'd given away all of his cash to homeless beggars, and his feet were blistered beyond recognition. For some reason, it had seemed like a good idea to exchange his boots for the pair of designer loafers that he'd bought during the afternoon. His vanity really would kill him one day. As it turned out, the shoes were actually torture devices in disguise. Carden had a high threshold for pain, but this was pushing it.

The worst part was that he hadn't found Risa and he was beginning to lose hope. In the back of his mind, he had believed that all he would have to do was walk and the fates would lead him to her. After all, they had brought them together in the first place. But after hours of unsuccessful searching, he was becoming anxious. What if he'd already passed her and hadn't realized it? It had been so long, maybe he wouldn't recognize her. What if the fates didn't want them to cross paths again? They'd had their chance once and Carden had left her. He didn't deserve another one.

But he wasn't here to beg for another chance! He wasn't asking for Risa to ride off into the sunset with him, like Cahill and his soulmate. He just needed to _see_ her. That was it.

It began to rain. The stinging, misty kind of rain that seemed to bite into your face no matter what direction you were walking. Terrific. The water would do wonders for the blisters on his heels.

As his clothes began to soak through, Carden shook his head. There was really only one thing that he could do, one definite way that he could find Risa. He was going to have to use the soulmate link. He'd blocked it out when he left New York. To open himself to it now, after all this time, seemed unthinkable. But it was either that, or he'd have to suffer the wrath of his shoes for another few hours. And there was no way that he could give up for the night and try again tomorrow. He would be ready for a straight jacket if he had to wait another day.

Inhaling deeply, Carden braced himself. On the exhale, he reached out for the link with his mind. Immediately, he was overcome with a crushing weight on his chest. It brought him to his knees on the damp, cold sidewalk. But after a minute, the pressure faded, and an invisible force began to pull at him.

The link was as warm and shimmering as Carden remembered it. But now, after years of repression, it was more powerful; he could not move fast enough for it. Soon he was running down the street and the link was tugging at him harder still. It felt strong enough to tear him apart if he didn't abide it.

He passed by several city blocks without really seeing them. After a while, Carden didn't even know where he was. The link, not caring about the physical obstacles in his way, wrenched him to his left so that he ran full force into the side of a building. It took nearly all of his strength to push off the wall and trudge forward to the end of the block so that he could turn down the next street. Once he had, he let the link drag him again.

When the pull began to subside, Carden slowed to a jog. He didn't recognize his surroundings. There were posts for street signs, but there were no signs on them. They'd probably been stolen or destroyed. Smiling wryly, Carden knew that this was the kind of neighborhood that Risa liked.

Suddenly, the soulmate link dissolved. For a scant second, Carden couldn't breathe. The connection had been severed; Risa was dead. But he was right here. _Right here_!

There was a loud clang at the end of the block. Entranced, Carden followed the sound. He peered around the corner, careful not to draw attention to himself.

And there she was.

Her dark hair whipped around her, spraying raindrops as she threw a spinning high kick to a grubby man in an old leather jacket. The man's head jerked to the side as he fell to the ground. While he lay dazed, she straddled him. Grasping his forehead and chin, she snapped his neck gracefully.

Her chest heaved. The man must have put up an unexpected fight. But she was smiling as she stood up. Another piece of human trash dead and gone. Damn I'm good.

These were her thoughts, Carden realized. He could hear her! Did that mean that she could hear him? He didn't think so. She would be miles away by now, if she knew that Carden was right around the corner from her. It was so intimate, being able to hear her thoughts, feel her mind. For a moment, he couldn't remember why he'd ever walked away from this.

He'd forgotten just how gorgeous she was. And now that she was a vampire, Risa was even more ravishing. Goddess, help him. Her eyes glimmered as she stood, tall and proud, over her prey. Whatever he thought about it, there was no question that she believed the man in the leather jacket deserved to die. She felt that the world was a better place without him. And watching her, so confident and impassioned, Carden could believe that she was right.

The crushing pressure squeezed his chest again. He held his breath, afraid that if he didn't, he would call out to her. _No, just look at her_, his mind whispered. _She's alive and she's the same Risa that you left eight years ago._ _Nothing has changed. Let her go now._

But he couldn't move. Even as he watched her turn to walk down the street, away from him, Carden was still rooted to the ground. The voices in his mind made his head throb.

_Go after her! Make her see._

_No! It won't do either of you any good. _

_She needs you. There were dark circles under her eyes. She's gotten worse._

_She never needed you. She made that perfectly clear. Respect her wishes. You got what you came here for. Leave now._

It took every ounce of will he possessed to tear his gaze away from her and turn back around. He leaned against the wall, swallowing hard. The soulmate link pulled at him again, demanding that he follow it. But he couldn't.

Goddess, he'd been a jackass to come here. Moronic to think that he could just see Risa and then let her go. He knew in his gut that Aiden St. Helen was not going to come after her. Then what had he come here for?

There were voices around the corner now—a male and female, shouting at each other in whispers.

Carden peered back at them and saw that it was a human girl and a vampire. The girl was in her twenties and she wore a large, billowing coat that was soaked through. The vampire…for some reason, he looked familiar. Regardless, they were standing exactly where Risa had just been, where the dead man still lay, and it couldn't be a coincidence. Carden strained his ears to make out what they were saying.

"—so stupid!" the male vampire hissed.

"Well, you certainly weren't going to do anything!"

"I never said that I wasn't going to follow her, Hollis. _I_ was the one who suggested that we do it almost a week ago, _remember_?"

"Oh, and I'm supposed to be able to discern your sincere suggestions from your sarcasm?"

"Yes. It's called a brain, princess. Analytical thinking. Try it some time, before you get yourself killed."

"I was perfectly fine!"

"You're just damn lucky that the subject isn't as paranoid as she should be. You were following her so closely that she probably could have heard your footsteps. And you're wearing a bright-colored puffy coat, for god's sake! Why don't you just tap her on the shoulder and say, 'Hey, Miss Sinclair, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be tailing you. But please go about your normal business.'"

_What the hell_, Carden thought. _Miss Sinclair? The subject?_

He squinted and tried to see the male vampire better through the rain. Dark hair, youthful face. Hell, the kid looked like that actor…the one who'd been a blond elf in _The Lord of the Rings_. A girl that Carden had slept with for a while had always drooled over that guy, said she liked him better with the blond hair. But Carden didn't think that was why this vampire looked familiar.

"Are you just angry that _I_ got the evidence first? Is that it? If you had been doing your job and cooperating this whole time, then you would have—"

"Right. Like you would ever let me help you. I would just screw it up, right? I'm just a gun-toting imbecile, right? That's what you think."

"No. I think your worst weapon is you mouth, you jerk. You haven't even shown me the smallest bit of respect—"

"And you're a pinnacle of congeniality. That may be what you want everyone to believe about you, princess, but I know that it's all just for show."

"You don't know anything about me. You've known me less than two weeks and you've hardly spoken to me except to be rude. And—"

"Fine. Whatever. Would you just stop talking already?"

"You never even let me finish a sentence!"

Suddenly it came to him. _Ian. Ian McCafferty._ The vampire was an assassin for Circle Daybreak—a rival of Carden's. A few years ago, they'd both been gunning for the contract on Kendra Pollox, a Night World vampire who was leading slaughters of entire towns of humans, turning as many of them as possible into Night People. She'd been making soldiers for the war. Ultimately, the contract had been given to Carden. Kendra Pollox was still his most infamous kill to date.

But McCafferty was good. Really freaking good.

Carden stopped listening as he slid down the wall into a crouch, his stomach churning. His thoughts were painfully jagged. They wouldn't come together to make any sense.

_The subject. _

_McCafferty. _

_Miss Sinclair. _

_Tailing. _

_Paranoid as she should be. _

_Got the evidence._

_Snapped his neck gracefully._

No, this couldn't be right. It had to be a mistake.

He had to away from here. He had to go.

Carden got to his feet and started running back the way he came. The rain hit his forehead and dripped into his eyes, but he was grateful to feel something clean and cold on his face.

He had to get away, he had to hurry.

It could have been one mile or ten, for all Carden knew. But he finally reached his hotel and belligerently pushed his way into the lobby. The night shift clerk at the desk looked at him fearfully as he ran by.

"Come on, come on," he whispered, pushing the button for the elevator again and again.

It wouldn't move fast enough, nothing would. Not even his body. When the elevator finally reached his floor, Carden sprinted down the hall to his room, but it felt like he was running in slow motion.

After an eternity, he somehow made it to his room. Somehow he got the door open and somehow he got into the bathroom just in time to be violently ill.

* * *

Ian kept grabbing a handful of her coat, using it to pull her onto the subway, off the subway, down the street. Hollis had tried a few times to wrench herself away, but he was too strong. In fact, he didn't even seem to notice her attempts. It made her feel like an insolent child who's parent was dragging her home for punishment. Oh, it was infuriating. But the more angry Hollis became, the more immature she felt.

They walked through the lobby of their hotel and she felt eyes on her as Ian yanked her towards the elevator. Only two people who had seen them, but that was embarrassing enough. Once they were on their floor, she let him drag her to his door. Then he pulled her through their adjoining door into her own room and shoved her roughly onto the bed.

Hollis fell back, but sat up slowly and slid to the foot of the bed, trying to maintain a sliver of her dignity. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing how exasperated she really was. Calmly, she unzipped her heavy, soaked coat and placed it on the floor. Then she smoothed down her wet hair before she looked up at Ian.

Her first thought was that he was angry. Of course, she'd already known that. When Ian found her in the city, he'd called her a slew of names that had told her as much. But the look in his eyes now chilled her. Hollis had to force herself not to back away from him.

"Let's get one thing perfectly clear," he said. "You will not do anything like that again." His voice was soft and serious. She'd never heard him speak this way. It had never made sense to her before, how a guy who appeared so vapid could have the patience, precision, and skill to be an assassin. But now she understood. This vampire had a core of ice and for the first time, Hollis was afraid of him.

"I have been in Circle Daybreak for a long time," he continued. "In all of these years, not a single member of my team has ever been hurt or killed. You deliberately put yourself in danger tonight because of your pride and stupidity. And I will not stand for it, especially not from a human. Daybreak rhetoric notwithstanding, you are weaker than I am and moreover, you are not trained for field work. I don't care about how you feel about me, princess. You are my responsibility. If you ever—_ever_—do anything that senseless or reckless again, I'll kill you myself. Do you understand?"

Hollis knew that she should be cowering, but she couldn't. Her pride may be the death of her, it was true, but sometimes it felt like all she had. And she would not let him trample all over her for something that wasn't entirely her fault.

"You're a liar," she said, her voice as soft as his.

His eyes widened, as if he were shocked by her audacity. "Please, go on."

Staring into the depth of his brown eyes, Hollis almost backed down. He hadn't blinked once since he'd pushed her onto the bed. Wait, that wasn't true. He had flinched when he was saying that he didn't care how she felt about him. Well she would see about that.

She stood up and faced him. "You said that no one on your team has ever been hurt and that's a lie, Ian. You have hurt me over and over again since the moment we were paired together. Earlier you said that no one can _make_ me feel anything, that I'm responsible for my own reactions. Fine. But there is such a thing as common courtesy and you've shown me none of it. I don't know what I ever did to you to deserve how you've treated me."

Ian sneered. "You're a hypocrite. I know what you think about me, princess. You're not very good at shielding your thoughts most of the time. You give me unfailing politesse, this common courtesy, and the entire time you're thinking that I'm just an ass with great eyes."

The blood rushed into her face. That exact phrase had run through her mind more than once. "So you do care about how I feel about you."

"No," he replied so coldly that it stung. "I care about honesty. If you thought that I was so dense, you could have told me that in the beginning. Hell, after a five minute conversation I could have proven you wrong. Instead, you quietly clung to your prejudices. I was just being who you wanted me to be, princess. So if you were hurt by anything that I've said, it's your own damn fault."

"I was honest with you!" Hollis replied angrily. She thrust her face close to his. "I told you several times to stop insulting me, to do your work. I told you exactly what I thought of you!"

"But you still expected me to carry on as I had. You lectured me about work and yet you never gave me anything to do. You thought I would just screw it up, so you might as well do it yourself. It was the only way it would be done right. You set yourself up to be a martyr and you played the part so well that you could have gotten yourself killed tonight."

Hollis faltered. She was so livid that her brain simply stopped working.

"I'm done with your games," Ian told her. "You get the real me now, princess. And I run the show. So get some sleep. Tomorrow you will tell me about the evidence you found so that I can kill Risa Sinclair and get the hell away from you."

Ian stormed out, but he shut the door between their rooms quietly. Somehow that seemed worse than if he had slammed it.

It was too much for Hollis to take any more. She set her pride aside as she fell to her knees on the carpet. Putting her hot face in her hands, she began to sob.

* * *

Risa felt like dancing. Too bad the clubs were already closed by this time, especially on a week night. She would love to feel the pulse of the music, her body moving to the beat by its own volition as her head spun. Well, it was alright. Her mp3 player was blaring the Foo Fighters in her ears and that would have to do for now.

It had been a great night, just what she'd needed. New York City was now free of twelve of the most disgusting excuses for human beings that Risa had seen in a while. There was no way for her to believe that she wasn't making a difference on a night like this. She'd freed countless people from being victims of those scumbags in the future and she'd gotten justice for those that had been hurt already.

The rain had just stopped and the sky was brightening as dawn approached. With a giggle, Risa wrung out rivers of water from her hair and her shirt. The cold didn't touch her. She sang out loud along with her music, not caring who heard. The city was full of weirdos; she was hardly noteworthy.

Well, maybe she was. Risa had the vague feeling that someone had been watching her earlier in the night. It hadn't seemed important at the time because she'd been so caught up in her work, but now she wondered. She really ought to pay more attention to things like that.

Carden had scolded her about that sort of thing, as if she were a little girl. _Remember to watch the shadows in your peripheral vision, Risa._ _Look both ways before crossing the street, Risa. _For such a dauntless assassin, he could be so anxious and overprotective.

Anyway, she didn't want to think about him. Strange that he'd popped into her mind twice in one night. She'd gotten pretty good at making herself forget about him. That is, of course, until she looked in the mirror.

As she skipped down the stairs into the subway station, Risa turned up the volume on her mp3 player until she literally couldn't hear herself think. Her eardrums might bleed, but she was not going to lose the effervescence that had taken her over during the night.

A train pulled into the station just as she reached the platform and that simple stroke of luck chased away the darkness that wanted to descend on her. And the car was empty enough for her to have a seat. Jubilance was bubbling up in her stomach. This was how it was supposed to be.

The stranger sitting across from her on the train looked at her warily because Risa was smiling at nothing at all. She caught some of his thoughts and had to suppress a laugh. The man was really afraid of her. Happiness was such a foreign concept in this world that he was actually suspicious of it.

Risa started up a one-sided conversation with the man as he read a newspaper, just to freak him out a little more. She blathered on about how lovely it was that spring was coming, that she couldn't wait to plant flowers in her garden, maybe some tomatoes and squash too. Not a word of it was true, but it felt good to talk. It occurred to her, suddenly, that sometimes entire weeks went by when she didn't talk to anyone. The thought made her freeze mid-sentence.

She remembered long phone calls with her friends, asking Cori about her day, reminiscing with her mother about her father, whispering heatedly about work and love with Carden. All of that seemed so far away. Not her life at all. Just a movie staring a girl who was a plainer version of her.

And suddenly the bubbling happiness was gone as if it had never come. Risa stared absently out the window. The man across from her was obviously relieved at her silence, his grip on the newspaper wasn't so tight any more.

The ride seemed long and Risa was grateful when she finally reached her stop. She wished that she didn't live two miles away because she honestly couldn't imagine how she was going to make it, just then. It was too far.

One foot in front of the other. Her mp3 player switched folders and then Trent Reznor was screaming at her. It seemed fitting. It would be so nice just to be swallowed up in his voice.

She caught the scent only two blocks from her house. Floating very faintly on the breeze was the smell of something rancid. Risa paused on the corner and wavered. She was drenched and cold now, bruised and aching, and she was so close to home. Hot shower and sleep.

The wind gusted and the acrid scent was stronger. The few humans that were on the streets at this hour didn't seem to notice and Risa envied them. When she'd been changed into a vampire, the world had become a far more pungent place. In the sixteen years that she'd spent as a human, she'd taken it for granted that she wasn't constantly bombarded by the odors of life and waste.

She turned away from her home and began to walk into the wind, as she'd known she would. There was no way for her to ignore this smell: it was a byproduct of putrefaction—human decay. Someone had died in her neighborhood and the body hadn't been found yet. Risa hoped that maybe the person was some elderly grandmother who had passed in her sleep or even someone who'd had a fatal accident. But the pessimist and the realist in her somehow knew that it wouldn't be that simple.

Following the scent, she stopped in front of a two-story row house—one that seemed to be crumbling before her eyes. The building had been boarded up years ago and the stone walls were covered in graffiti. Squatters must have broken in, though, because a large sheet of plywood that blocked a first floor window shook with the wind, as if it were only loosely in place.

Risa made sure that she was alone before knocking the board away and vaulting up into the open window frame. The old, hardwood floor groaned underneath her weight and the wind was loud as it blew relentlessly against the house. For several minutes, she stood motionless, listening for the presence of another person. But she heard nothing.

The smell was strong enough to be detected by humans now and Risa followed it up a set of stairs that were slowly being devoured by termites. With each step up, she half-expected the floor to give out under her, leaving her to be sliced up by shards of wood as she crashed through the stairs. But by some miracle she made it safely to the second floor.

At the top of the stairs there were two bedrooms, one on each side of her, and there was a small bathroom in front of her. Risa pushed open the door to the bedroom on her left and a wave of nausea crashed through her. Every last molecule of air was polluted with the smell of decay. After a second, her stomach settled and Risa forced herself to enter the room.

There was a bloody, bloated mass on the floor. At first, Risa was relieved. There was no way that the huge mess could've ever been human. But as she stared, she recognized the shape of two heads, one with blond hair and the other with light brown. One of the bodies was taller and had its arm splayed over the other. Slowly, clothing came into focus, barely identifiable under all of the blood and oozing human matter. Risa saw that both were wearing jeans with flared legs—these were the bodies of two girls.

As if she were in a trance, she crouched over them. It was difficult to be certain, but judging from the stage of decay, Risa guessed that the girls had been dead for at least four days. And it looked as if both of their torsos had been viciously torn open from neck to naval. Humans would probably guess that the girls had been attacked by dogs, but Risa suspected that it had been some kind of shapeshifter.

There was so much damage to the bodies. She could only imagine how brutal the attack must have been. She could picture the older, taller girl throwing herself on top of the younger one, trying to protect her. But whatever defenses they'd mustered against the shifter had been futile—the fight over with almost as soon as it had started.

The wind howled, rattling shutters that were barely attached to the outside of the upstairs windows. Risa wrapped her arms around her knees, swaying on her feet; she sniffed and wiped her nose. She didn't know what she could do for the girls. In her work, she'd only ever gone after people who were in the middle of committing a crime. Sometimes she also killed because of the crimes she'd seen in their thoughts. Risa had never tried to find a specific person to get justice for a particular victim.

But there wouldn't be justice for these girls any other way. The police couldn't investigate a crime like this. She'd never really had a choice: she was going to have to track down the shifter herself.

The air stirred behind her softly. For a moment, Risa thought that it was a draft, but then she realized that the air was too warm to have come from outside. She turned just as the wolf leapt at her.


	5. War and Peace

The wolf sprang at her and Risa instinctively rolled away. But she wasn't quite fast enough and the animal clawed at her arm as it landed, slicing through an artery. She winced as her blood began to pump out in time with her heartbeat.

She drew herself up into a low crouch, so that she was eye-level with the wolf. It bared its teeth, growling at her, and Risa was practically doing the same thing. She hated this..._thing_, this beast who had ripped apart two innocent girls and left them to rot like garbage. The shifter outweighed her and she was losing blood quickly, but she didn't care. It had to die; she had to kill it.

Bloodlust surged through her veins, giving her the adrenaline to stay focused on the wolf, even though her head was swimming. They circled each other on the filthy floor, just a few feet away from the dead girls. The wolf was salivating and so was she. There was a madness in the animal's eyes that Risa had never seen in a shapeshifter before. She knew that most of them just ate to live, but not this one. This wolf loved killing. It had enjoyed slicing up those girls.

The silver knife was strapped to Risa's injured arm, so for the weapon to be of any use to her she was going to have to get it with her other hand. The motion would leave her defenseless for a moment. She needed to daze or distract the wolf in order to give her the time. Looking around, she saw that there wasn't anything in the room that she could use to divert the shifter's attention and the thing was probably too intent on her to fall for a diversion anyway. Stunning it was her only choice.

Risa lunged at the animal and it leapt at her as well. Catching it in the throat with her shoulder, she used her motion to thrust the wolf up and away from her. It landed on its back and choked as it tried to breathe through its bruised throat. Risa seized the opportunity to grab her knife.

The sleeve of her sweatshirt was soaked with her blood and her forearm was slippery as she tried to free her weapon. Her hand shook involuntarily and she fumbled with the strap. She was still struggling with it when the wolf recovered and charged at her.

Again she tried to dodge the beast, but she'd lost too much blood and her body would not follow her commands fast enough. The full weight of the animal hit her as it drove her into the floor. Looking into crazed eyes and snarling face of the wolf, Risa knew that she was going to die. These girls were not going to be avenged. Their deaths would just be another senseless, violent tragedy in this sick world.

The wolf bore down on her, taking its time now as it leaned towards her jugular. It was going to relish ripping her throat out. At least she wouldn't have to feel it tear open her chest to eat her heart.

The hardwood floor suddenly creaked under them. With a loud crunch, Risa and the wolf fell through it. Her bones screamed as she slammed into the living room on the first floor with the shifter on top of her. But in the next instant they were falling again as the rotten wood there also gave way. They toppled into the basement.

As they fell, Risa took advantage of the wolf's shock and jerked herself around so that the animal was at her side instead of on top of her. She'd be damned if she was going to break his fall again.

A high-pitched whimper escaped from the animal as it hit the cement floor. Risa's body sang with pain as she landed as well, but she had braced herself for it this time and took it with the side of her body, slapping down with her forearm to ease the impact.

Clouds of dust exploded around them and Risa coughed as she slowly rolled over onto her feet. The wolf groaned next to her and, ignoring the pain and dizziness, Risa began to run toward the stairs. She sprinted up them fast enough to avoid breaking through any on her way back to the first floor. Leaping over the large hole in the living room floor, she threw herself out of the open window frame that she'd used to enter the house. She somersaulted as she hit the ground and then she was on her feet again.

Risa didn't run towards her house yet. She kept glancing behind her, just to make sure that the wolf wasn't following her. Holding her injured arm close against herself, she kept going until she realized that, if she didn't get back to her apartment, she was going to bleed out on the street.

Too tired to maintain her pace, Risa staggered the rest of the way to the old house. She tripped on the steps up to her apartment, banging her cheek into the corner of the stair. When she finally got to her door, she didn't have the energy to bother with the key. Pushing it open with the force of her dead weight, she collapsed on her knees in the kitchen.

She fell forward as she reached for the refrigerator and opened it while she lay on her stomach. Using her good arm, she felt around on the cold wire racks until she found the remaining bags of blood. Risa swept them out of the fridge and onto the linoleum next to her. Turning over on her back, she ripped into the bags, one after another, sucking the last drop out of each one before moving on to the next. The fresh blood helped her weak body to heal the gash on her arm and then she drank until the floor beneath her stopped tilting as if she was on a raft in the middle of the ocean.

Breathing easily now, Risa remained lying in the kitchen. It was strange being hurt as a vampire because her body healed so quickly. Except for the blood staining her clothes and skin, there was no evidence that she'd been hurt at all. No scab on her arm, no scar. Her pale flesh was as perfect as ever. But when a person is badly injured, as Risa had been, it was a trauma for the soul as well as the body. As a human, she'd always been so preoccupied with tending to her physical wounds that she'd never noticed the damage done to her psyche. Now that she was a vampire, Risa lay on her floor, shaking violently over something that her body had already forgotten about. It made her feel weak and unstable—a sniveling little girl who was still hiccupping because she'd been pushed by the boy next door. She was a pathetic excuse for a warrior.

Was it this way for lamias, as well? She'd never gotten the chance to ask Carden. But he never would have believed that her soul suffered when she was hurt anyway. He wouldn't recognize the girl on the kitchen floor now.

"_You're too reckless! You're taking too many damn risks. You almost died last night, _again_! Don't you care? Or is that what you want, Risa?"_

She'd never had any answers for him. His questions hurt too much because he had everything exactly right and utterly wrong. Most of the time she couldn't figure out which was which. All Risa knew was that Carden didn't understand and more than that, he didn't want to understand. He only condemned her to the very end.

What would he think of her now? He'd probably say that she was more careless than ever and more thick-headed for not paying attention to the way that her soul was crying. He would look at that rotten, putrid mess that had once been two girls and shrug. _"They're dead, Risa. It's nothing to kill yourself over."_

No, he was wrong. He'd always been wrong.

* * *

Jonas Carden was on the brink of throwing his laptop out the hotel window. It had only been a few days since he'd been fired from Circle Daybreak—barely enough time for the paperwork to be written up—and he was already locked out of every database he needed. None of his passwords worked and after hours of trying, he'd come to the conclusion that the engineers who had designed Daybreak's sites and databases were far better at securing information than Carden was at stealing it. He'd gotten nowhere.

Of course, Risa Sinclair wasn't listed in any public phone book and no matter what search engine he used, he couldn't find any record of her. So how did Daybreak know about her? How did they find her? Why did they want her dead?

Carden couldn't find out and it was killing him. He slammed his useless, piece of shit laptop shut and began to pace his room anxiously. How was he going to get the information he needed? He doubted that any of his contacts would talk to him now, and even if they would, Carden didn't trust them with Risa's name.

There was only one person who might help him, one person that he instinctively trusted, but it was the one person that he wanted to avoid. Reece Cahill had been running the mission that had gotten him fired; Carden had sold out Cahill's soulmate to save his own. The witch had every right to hate him and had more reason than anyone to tell Carden to go to hell. But for some reason, he wouldn't. Instead Cahill had protested Daybreak's decision and continued to treat the vampire with undue respect. Stupid ass.

But it was Carden's only shot now. For Risa, he was going to have to swallow his pride. Damn it, he hated doing that.

Still pacing, the vampire searched through his cell phone's contacts and dialed the number.

Reece Cahill picked up on the third ring. "Carden," he mumbled sleepily. He must have looked at the caller ID before he answered. "It's early."

"Is it?" the vampire asked. He hadn't slept in so long that time ceased to mean anything to him.

"Yes. Very. Unemployed life not treating you well?"

"The pay sucks."

"So I hear." He yawned. "Look, I'm tired so let's just skip the casual bantering. What do you need?"

Carden was relieved that the witch had spared him from asking first. "I'm locked out of all Daybreak's databases and I need some information."

"What kind?"

"It looks like there's a hit out on a made vampire. I want to know everything about it. Who made the call, what kind of information they have on her, who's in charge. Everything."

It sounded as if Cahill was more alert and taking notes now. "What office are we talking about?"

"New York City. But it's possible that the contract originated from a different office."

"Okay. It'll take some time. I'm not exactly climbing the Daybreak corporate ladder out here. That's why they chose me to lead the DC mission. But I could probably call Anton Parish. He's got more pull than—"

"No!" Carden interrupted. "No one can know about this. It has to stay between us. That's why I called you."

There was a brief silence on the other line that made him uncomfortable. "If that's what you want."

"It is."

"I need the name."

"Oh," Carden said, surprised that he'd forgotten. "Right. It's Risa Sinclair."

"Okay, it's done. Just give me some time."

"Thanks," the vampire whispered. He sat down heavily on the bed, suddenly exhausted.

"Don't thank me yet. I want to know one thing first. Who is this girl to you? Does she have anything to do with what happened to you in DC?"

"That's technically two things you want to know, Cahill."

"Stop stalling."

Carden sighed and bowed his head. "Would you do this for me if I refused to answer?"

Another silence. "Yes."

"She's my soulmate," the vampire said thickly. "And yes."

"Why didn't you tell Anton?" Cahill demanded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Even though the witch couldn't see, Carden shrugged helplessly. "Because in the end, it doesn't really matter. Threaten my life or hers…it's the same thing."

"So you'd rather have Daybreak think that you're a weak, selfish bastard?"

"Better that than a weak, selfish bastard with a soulmate. Why give them or the Night World more ammunition?"

"You know they won't see it that way. They would have been more lenient with you."

"And they shouldn't be. It's different for you, Cahill. Your soulmate is seen as the goddamn second coming."

"Trust me, Wild Power or not, they don't see Lex that way. Not after the mess with Genevieve."

"Whatever. You're supposed to choose her life over everything else; I was supposed to choose Lex's life too, but I didn't."

"There are a lot of people in Circle Daybreak who would have done the same thing."

"Then they should all be fucking fired too, or the entire organization is in trouble." Carden sighed again with frustration. "Look, I'm not trying to get my job back. I don't deserve it. I let down the organization, my team, and you. And I _really_ hate admitting all of this shit. So drop it. I just need to know what is going on with Daybreak and Risa. Can you do that for me or not?"

"I already said that I would."

"Okay."

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Well, I thought I would piss off Circle Daybreak a little more by protecting one of their targets from assassination."

"Goddess. Listen, do you need help? Do you want me to come down there?"

Carden smiled a little, surprised to find that he actually wouldn't mind Cahill's presence now. "No, don't worry about me. Keep your soulmate safe. I'll try to look after my own until you can get me some more information."

"Okay. Just don't do anything stupid."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Cahill hung up and again, Carden was relieved. He'd been afraid that there would be an awkward moment that he'd have to fill with sentiments of gratitude. That would've been torture for him and the witch seemed to know it.

Carden pushed himself off the bed. With Cahill taking care of the research, it left the vampire free to find his soulmate and protect her from the assassin. It wouldn't be difficult to track Risa down again; the link was still open and trying to pull Carden to her. He only hoped that he would get to her in time and that the information Cahill found would prove that this was all some huge mistake before Carden was forced to kill Ian McCafferty and his human partner.

* * *

Ian started the coffeemaker and ordered two large breakfasts from room service. He'd noticed that Hollis usually started the day off with a protein bar, but he didn't understand how she could swallow those gritty things. This morning he'd see to it that she had a real meal that didn't involve wheat germ.

He hadn't slept since he'd brought Hollis back and Ian knew that she hadn't slept much either. She was quiet now, but he'd listened to her cry for hours. He wasn't sure if she'd realized that he could hear her, but he hadn't wanted to embarrass them both by letting her know. Besides, he considered it a sort of penance, bearing witness to the pain that he'd caused her.

He hadn't meant to be so harsh. But it hadn't been his fault. He'd only been trying to make Hollis understand just how thoughtless she'd been, how much danger she'd put herself in. And the girl had actually argued with him! What was he supposed to do with her? Things had just gotten out of hand.

As soon as room service delivered the food, Ian knocked on his partner's door. She didn't answer at first and his stomach sank again, as it had last night.

But then Hollis silently opened the door. She didn't stop to look at him, just left the door ajar and walked over to the side of her bed.

"I got breakfast," Ian said quietly.

"I'm not hungry," Hollis replied stiffly with her back to him. She was still wearing the clothes that she'd worn yesterday. They were rumpled and her jeans were still damp. It wasn't like her to look this disheveled.

He stepped further inside the room and realized that she was standing over an open suitcase, carefully folding a shirt. "What are you doing?"

"Packing. I'm leaving."

That took Ian aback. "You called for a replacement?"

"Not yet. I will as soon as I check out."

"But your record—"

Hollis glared at him over her shoulder. "I don't care about my record as much as you seem to think. I've been opening my veins over this job and over you for days now and I'm tired. Yes, I want Circle Daybreak to think that I can be a strong team member, but after last night, it's just not worth it. So I'm going to go. I'm sure they'll send a good replacement."

The sinking feeling was back now. "I don't want a replacement."

"It's not about what you want, Ian," she said slowly. She pulled another shirt off a hanger in the closet. "It's about what's best for me."

"No, you're wrong. It's about what's best for the job. You've been on it for almost two weeks already and you said that you got some evidence last night. You can't just throw it away. People will die in the meantime."

Hollis hesitated and her hands were still for a moment. Then she sat down on the edge of the bed and put her face in her hands.

"No, don't cry again," Ian begged.

She looked up at him sharply and for the first time, he saw her face. Her golden eyes were over-bright and there were dark smudges underneath them. She looked old and worn out. "You heard me?"

Ian swallowed. "Yes. The walls here are sort of thin."

"Perfect, just perfect," she whispered to herself. Then she asked him, "So have you got some sort of biting remark about how childish it was? Some comment on how hypocritical it is to act strong, but still be able to cry?"

"I'm sorry. I never meant—"

"Yes, you did," she said, throwing his old words back at him.

"Okay," he conceded. "I meant what I said and I wanted to hurt you last night."

"Congratulations. Now please get out and let me finish packing."

"You scared the hell out of me, Hollis," he said heatedly, surprising himself. The girl was looking at him and he couldn't read her expression. "I looked for you for hours. I searched through all of the really bad areas that Risa Sinclair frequents, trying to find you in someone else's eyes, afraid that when I did see you, you'd be lying dead on the sidewalk.

"And then I did find you, still tailing the subject too close, completely unaware of your surroundings. Do you have any idea how easy it was for me to come up behind you and grab you? You could have been killed, Hollis." He looked at her intently, trying to burn the truth into her with his eyes. "I've never lost anyone on the job and if I'd lost you last night, it would have been my fault."

"Because you're responsible for my safety," she murmured.

"Yes. And because I indirectly put you in that position."

She was quiet for a long moment. "I know that I shouldn't have gone. I was angry at you for how you've been treating me, but it was still a stupid thing to do. You were right. And…maybe you had a small point, about how I may have been prejudice towards you."

Ian lowered his gaze and winced a little. "Well, as I said yesterday, I've never given you any reason to think otherwise."

"No. But still…I didn't realize that I had done it right off the bat. I thought that the first time that I judged you was when you referred to me as 'nutrition or recreation'."

"Hey, I thought that was one of my best lines," he said with a smirk.

Hollis burst into laughter and Ian stood transfixed. "Oh yeah," she giggled, barely getting the words out. "It's so romantic. I can just picture it, 'You had me at "nutrition or recreation"'. Next time you ought to try, 'Nice shoes. Wanna fuck?'"

She threw her head back and then rolled over onto her side, clutching her stomach as she laughed hysterically. It was an amazing thing to see her mouth soften and her golden eyes glow. And her face did flush, turning bright red as she tried to catch her breath. He might have laughed with her, but he was too captivated by the change in her. She had _sworn_ for Goddess's sake. And it was sexy as hell.

Finally she wiped at the corner of her eye. "Sorry, I'm a little out of it." She giggled a little more. "Too much stress, not enough sleep. I get loopy sometimes."

Ian smiled. "Don't be sorry for that. You should laugh more often, princess."

"Why do you call me that?" she asked, still struggling to get a hold of herself.

"Because you acted like one."

His blunt answer sobered her up and Ian regretted it. "Look," he said softly, "can we maybe just start over? No games, no prejudices?"

Hollis didn't answer right away. She looked at her suitcase that was already half-full. He grasped at a thread of one of her thoughts and realized that she was afraid that he was only concerned about the mission.

"I don't want you to go," he said.

She turned to him them, her cat-like eyes brimming with unshed tears. "Okay," she whispered.

A smile captured his lips before he could stop it. "Good. Do you want some breakfast now? Then we can get to work?"

Hollis sniffed and wiped at her eyes again. "What did you order?" she asked.

"Bacon and eggs, buttered toast, orange juice."

"Oh my god, do you have any idea how many trans fatty acids are in all of that?"

Ian gave her a short laugh. "No. But the real question is: do I care?"


	6. Sparks

_The dream began the same way that it always did. She stood in the cemetery with Cori in her arms and when the mourners disappeared and darkness fell, she hurried towards the entrance. The gate closed just before she could reach it, as it always did, and then she heard the footsteps behind her._

_This time, though, she heard something else as well. It was a deep rumbling that sounded like thunder from a faraway storm. Risa reached inside her pocket for her father's badge, but instead she pulled out her mp3 player. Useless. She threw it on the ground angrily._

_Cori babbled something and Risa clapped her hand over her little sister's mouth. She turned around slowly and saw the wolf crouching low to the ground only a few feet away from her. From its body language, she knew that it was about to pounce._

_Risa ran along the stone wall surrounding the cemetery, but with Cori in her arms, she couldn't move fast enough. The wolf was behind them, letting her run because it found it amusing to hunt for its prey._

_She would have to fight it, she realized. It was the only way to save herself and her sister._

_Setting Cori down behind a thick hedge, Risa met the wolf face to face in the open. It snarled and circled her while she got into her fighting stance._

"_Come on, you son of a bitch," she whispered to it. "Let's see what you've got."_

_She thought she heard something like laughter from the animal. Then it leapt at her and Risa braced herself for the attack. But it never came. The wolf had jumped over her completely and bounded over to the hedge where Cori was hiding._

"_No!" Risa screamed as she ran toward the animal. "I'm right here! No!"_

_But the wolf didn't spare her any attention as it sniffed around for the child, who had begun to cry. Just before it reached Cori, Risa threw herself over her sister. The wolf sank its teeth into her arm as it tried to pull her away and she screamed. It bit her again, but she wouldn't move. _

_Finally it seemed like the animal had had enough of toying with Risa. It thrust a heavy paw at her face and another at her stomach, as if trying to hold her still. She struggled, but the wolf ripped through her clothes and tore apart the flesh of her chest with its sharp fangs._

_She couldn't scream this time. The wolf had punctured her lungs and she couldn't breathe. It tore at her with its claws and teeth and Risa couldn't understand why she wasn't dead yet. It hurt so much, why wouldn't she just die._

_Please, let me die. Just let me die._

_But then the wolf pushed her paralyzed body over and started to go after Cori again. She heard her sister crying and she tried to reach out. The dead weight of her arm fell over Cori's shoulder, but she could feel the animal slashing through the little girl anyway._

_She heard her sister screaming in agony, dying right next to her. But Risa couldn't make her body move. There was nothing that she could do and she wouldn't die. She just lay there, trapped in her own body, listening to Cori scream…_

Risa bolted upright and immediately hit her head on something hard. She heard a voice cry out, but it didn't register at first. It was a moment before she realized that she was still on her kitchen floor, trembling in a cold sweat from the dream about the wolf. It had killed her, killed Cori.

Just a dream.

No. Not for the girls that the wolf had left rotting in that house.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked her.

Still a little dazed, Risa didn't look up, but her breath had stopped. There was someone in her apartment, in her kitchen, asking her if she was okay. She had to be dreaming still. This couldn't be real; it was simply impossible. She didn't _know_ anybody, certainly not anyone who would care about her wellbeing. And the most disturbing detail of all was that the voice—the deep, warm voice—sounded like her soulmate.

As she remained looking down at her own lap, a hand came into her field of vision. It touched her under her chin, lifting her head up, and she knew in that moment that this wasn't a dream. As much as she'd dreamed of him, her subconscious had never been able to simulate the intensity of the electric shocks that seared down her spine and overwhelmed her senses.

She looked at him, kneeling on the floor next to her, and she was thrown backwards in time, to the moment she first saw him with her vampire eyes. She couldn't take him in all at once. It was just too much.

Her gaze started at his black hair. He'd recently shaved his head and his hair was just starting to grow back. Then Risa looked into his deep, brown eyes. But lingering there was too dangerous. Her eyes fell to his sensual mouth that was usually twisted into an arrogant smirk. Broad shoulders, muscular chest, rigid abs covered by a navy blue shirt. Hips, powerful legs, jeans.

But then all of the pieces snapped together and she was seeing him completely, sitting next to her. Strong and charismatic, as always. Breathing too fast. Desire darkening his eyes.

"Risa, are you okay?" Carden asked again softly.

And the burning rage that had been silently smoldering inside of her for the past eight years erupted. She clenched her fist and drove it into his jaw. It took him by surprise and jerked his head to the side. Pressing her advantage, Risa threw herself at him, knocking him down to the floor.

Carden had sparred with her many times in the past, but she'd still been human then. Risa realized that he hadn't expected her to be so strong, but he adapted quickly. She straddled him, drawing back to punch him again, and he jerked his body up. It threw her off balance and before she knew what was happening, he had rolled both of them over and was lying on top of her. He grabbed her wrists in one hand and pinned them over her head.

"Am I okay?" she screamed as she struggled in his grip. "_Am I okay?_ How the hell can you ask me that? Get off me, you bastard! What the fuck are you doing here? Let go!"

"Not until you calm down," he shouted back. His weight was pressed along the length of her and it was hard for her to breathe under him. Still, it felt so good, every bit as delicious as she remembered. He was so close, but Risa refused to let herself look at him, refused to stop fighting him. She was too afraid of what would happen if she did.

The rest of her body useless, she used the only weapon that she had left. Risa thrust her head up and slammed her forehead into his nose. He cried out and she felt triumphant even though she was still trapped under him.

"Fine," she snarled. "Don't let go. Just lie there and let me hit you. I could do this all day long."

He gave her a flirtatious smile. "Sweetheart," he said, his voice deep and rough. "I could think of better things that you could do to me all night long."

Infuriated beyond words, she tried to headbutt him again, but his free hand clamped down on her forehead and pressed it back into the floor.

"Is this some big joke to you, Carden?" she demanded. "Like hey, wouldn't it be funny to see the expression on Risa's face when I just appear out of nowhere after eight years?"

"I don't want to be here any more than you want me here."

"Then what the hell are you doing here?"

"If you would stop fighting me, I would tell you."

"Stop, huh?" she spat. "From what I remember, you don't know the meaning of the word."

He was looking at her now as if she'd slapped him and the startled pain in his eyes shamed her.

No, she would not feel guilty. He had no right to make her feel like that. Not after what he'd done to her. "Aw, did I hurt you?" Risa sneered. "Is the truth too much for you to take?"

She could see him trying to regain his control and it was astounding. He'd never backed down from an argument with her in the past. But now he was gritting his teeth and he took a deep breath. "We don't have time for this," he said heatedly. "You can yell at me all you want later, but you have to come with me now."

Risa glared and pursed her lips. "Gee, let me think. No!"

"It wasn't a request, sweetheart."

"You can't come back here after all this time and order me around."

"You know what? I'm still stronger than you are. So, actually, _I can_. You're coming with me now and you can either walk or I can throw you over my shoulder and carry you. It's your choice."

Carden was stronger than she was, and it humiliated her to admit that he could easily drag her out of here against her will. If she walked, it would at least spare some of her dignity. If she made him carry her, she'd have the satisfaction of making it difficult for him. But neither option was appealing.

This wasn't right. All of the times she'd imagined him coming back to her, he'd been repentant, begging her for forgiveness. He wasn't supposed to be lying on top of her, not the least bit regretful as he demanded that she follow his orders. It was maddening, being with him. Why didn't she ever have the upper hand?

He looked down at her, surprised and confused, and his expression made her stomach fall. "But you do," he murmured softly in response to her thoughts. His free hand caressed her cheek. He kissed the corner of her mouth. "You always did."

His lips were so close to hers, but he didn't move to kiss her. It seemed like he was waiting for something—her consent, maybe. Risa ached for it so badly that it scared her. She was supposed to be over this. Their breath intermingled for a long moment before she turned her head away. Her eyes stinging, she whispered, "No."

Carden pulled back and she felt him sigh against her. Then he released her wrists and pushed himself off of her. "Sorry," he said as he stood up. The emotion was gone from his voice.

Risa laughed shortly at that, but she didn't know why. With his weight gone from her, she felt cold. She sat up and drew her knees into her chest.

"Come on," Carden said, offering her his hand. "I meant what I said. We don't have a lot of time.

She wanted to slap his hand away, but she didn't. Whatever was going on was serious enough to make him come back here. As much as she despised him, she should probably hear him out. Reluctantly, Risa took his hand and tried to ignore the sizzle of the soulmate link as he pulled her to her feet. But he'd either underestimated his strength or overestimated her weight, because he pulled too hard and Risa had to brace her hands on his chest to keep from falling into him.

The muscles were hard underneath her fingers and she could feel his pulse racing. She had the sudden urge to rest her head against his chest and listen to his heart pound. God, she had to get out of here before something happened with him. He'd only been here for a few minutes and already she'd nearly let him kiss her. She just didn't trust herself any more.

"You've got to change first. You're covered in blood, Risa." It was his old lecturing tone, the one that made her feel like a disappointing child.

She noticed for the first time that she was still wearing the clothes that she'd worn last night. Pulling off her blood-stained sweatshirt, she walked back to the bedroom to change.

"Is that your blood or someone else's?" her soulmate asked from the living room.

"Which would you rather hear?"

Carden didn't answer her. She quickly dressed in a sweater and fresh pair of jeans. Hurrying into the bathroom, Risa washed the blood from her hands and then washed her face.

When she emerged from her room, she found Carden standing on one of her kitchen chairs, examining a stain on the ceiling of her living room. It was a shock to see him again. When she'd let him out of her sight a moment ago, she'd almost expected him to disappear and walk out of her life, as he'd before.

But god, he was still there, strong and gorgeous, even more so when he wasn't trying to be. If it weren't for the soulmate connection, he would have been completely out of Risa's league.

He picked at the ceiling and a black speck fell into his hand. He squinted while he examined it in his palm. "Camera," he said, throwing it to the ground and crushing it under his boot.

Risa was startled. Someone had broken into her apartment and planted a camera? Who would want to watch her? Nobody even knew her.

Carden threw his coat at her and started for the door. Out on the curb, he hailed a cab, checking around them carefully before he got inside. She slid next to him and slammed the door shut. She hadn't put his coat on, but it was warm over her lap in the taxi.

By unspoken agreement, they were silent during the ride. She hadn't ridden in a cab in a long time. The subway was always easier, even if it was nauseating. But Carden seemed anxious about being followed and he kept looking out the back windshield to be sure. She supposed it was easier to stay anonymous in a cab because there were so many of them. It could be hard to keep track of a particular one, especially when the driver was a maniac, as theirs was.

They got out in downtown Manhattan and Carden started walking in the quick and determined way that New Yorkers do. Risa had trouble keeping up with him as he weaved back and forth across the sidewalk, dodging people seamlessly. She wasn't used to pushing her way through the rush hour foot traffic.

Finally he led her inside the lobby of the Hudson Hotel.

"Mr. Jones," a female voice called out as they passed by the main desk.

Carden stopped and Risa realized that "Jones" was one of his pseudonyms. An attractive blond girl in a hotel uniform hurried over to him.

"I just wanted to let you know that I have two tickets to 'Rent' tonight, if you're interested," the blond purred as she reached out to stroke his arm. "You can't visit New York without seeing a Broadway show."

He glanced back at Risa, looking almost guilty. She merely raised her eyebrows at him expectantly.

"Oh," the blond girl said, eyes darting from Risa to Carden. She crossed her arms in front of her, emphasizing her ample chest. "I didn't realize you were with someone."

"Yeah…" Carden started awkwardly. "It's just…"

Risa rolled her eyes. "Oh please," she groaned to the blond. "You can have him. But don't expect too much. He's not very well endowed, if you know what I mean."

"Uh, I'm sorry to hear that," the girl said uncomfortably. "I should get back to work." But she couldn't quite stifle a giggle as she walked back to the desk.

Carden grabbed Risa's elbow and pulled her over to the elevators. "That was really unnecessary," he snapped at her.

"Maybe. But it was the only fun I've had all day." Hell, it was probably the only fun she'd had in years.

They stepped inside the elevator and once the door shut, Carden said, "I don't recall you ever complaining about my endowments before, sweetheart."

Risa bit her lip. Arrogant jerk. She really didn't want to be reminded about things like that. "Men and their hopeless size complexes," she mumbled.

She followed Carden inside a spacious hotel suite. The room looked very posh and cozy. Risa was careful to stay on the opposite side of the room from her soulmate.

"You still working for Circle Daybreak?" she asked off-handedly, running her fingers over the smooth lacquer finish on the dresser.

"Got fired a few days ago, actually," he replied. He walked over to the desk and sat down in front of his laptop.

Now that was a surprise. Risa knew that, regardless of her own issues with Daybreak, Carden was one of the best members of the organization. She couldn't imagine what he could've done that was bad enough to get him fired. "Why was that?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

Her soulmate met her gaze and looked deeply into her eyes. Risa felt her pulse quicken in spite of herself. "Because of you," he said.

For some reason, his answer stripped her of all her patience. "What the hell does that mean?" she shouted. "I've had enough of this cloak and dagger crap, Carden. You'd better start explaining what the hell you're doing here, why there was a camera stuck on my ceiling, and why you forced me out of my apartment to shack up with you in some over-priced hotel suite. And your answer had better not be lewd or I will personally remove your testicles!"

She'd been expecting some sort of sarcastic retort, but he just looked at her gravely and said, "Circle Daybreak has a contract out on your life, Risa."

Her mouth fell open. "Oh."

* * *

Things were awkward now and Hollis was on edge. After their fight, both she and Ian were so wary of insulting each other that they were polite and reassuring to an absurd degree. It was beginning to annoy even her; she couldn't imagine how Ian was handling it. 

Even though he'd been so horrible and rude to her before, there had been an ease to it. She'd known what to expect and what to say. But now, after working with Ian for a week and a half, she found that she didn't know him at all. She didn't know if any of the nasty things he'd said to her were true. Did she really talk too much? Did she breathe too loudly? Did the way she tapped her pen really make him want to jab it in her eye? How much work could she actually expect from him without being too patronizing or too pushy?

They were deeply involved in the mission and still didn't know how to work together without clashing with each other. Hollis wondered if it would've been better if she'd asked for a replacement after all.

But he'd asked her to stay. He'd said that he didn't want her to go. The memory still made her flush and it turned her entire face red. It had happened a few times already and there was no way that he could've missed it. But he hadn't asked why she was blushing and she wasn't sure that she could even answer that question.

They had submitted their daily report to their supervisor, stating that Hollis had observed the subject murder a man who had been beating up a young teenager on the sidewalk.

It was the first direct evidence that they'd found against Risa Sinclair. But not long after the report had been submitted, the subject had returned to her apartment covered in blood. She'd devoured four blood bags and then she'd collapsed on the kitchen floor. That had bungled everything.

"When I got you last night, you're sure that there was no blood on her clothing?" Ian asked her. He'd taken up Hollis's old position, watching the camera footage of Risa Sinclair's apartment. The subject was still sleeping or unconscious.

"No, there wasn't," Hollis replied. He wasn't entirely confident in her observations because she lacked field training, but was too cautious to admit it now.

The blood was an important detail because it opened the door for extenuating circumstances. Maybe Hollis had missed the man attacking and badly wounding Sinclair during the fight. That would change the situation from murder to self-defense. Or Hollis could have missed the subject being hurt and losing blood before the fight. In that case, Sinclair might have been so dazed from blood loss that she hadn't realized what she was doing when she killed the man. Hollis understood why Ian had doubts about what she'd seen and she knew that he wanted to press her further, but he drew back every time.

They weren't going to get anywhere like this.

"Ian," she said impatiently, "would you just do it already?"

He looked at her sharply. "Do what?"

She pulled up a chair and faced him directly. Her knee touched his and she quickly pushed back a little. But the front leg of the chair slid on top of the sleeve of Ian's jacket, which he'd thrown haphazardly onto the floor.

"Oh, sorry," she said, reaching down to pull the sleeve out from under her chair. It was hard to do with her weight on it, but she didn't have room to stand up off the chair to retrieve it either.

"Let me get it," Ian said.

He bent down too and helped her lift the leg enough to pull the sleeve out from underneath it. His fingers brushed hers and Hollis lifted her gaze up to him. By leaning down towards the floor, they had also unwittingly leaned into each other. Ian's face was mere inches from hers and she realized that he was staring at her mouth. Her heart raced wildly as he started to close the distance between them.

The computer made some high-pitched _ping_ and Hollis shot back up in her chair, feeling as embarrassed and as guilty as a kid who'd been caught sleeping in class. Ian sat up slowly, his dark eyes thoughtfully locked on hers. But then he broke the contact as he turned to the computer, clicking a few times.

Hollis willed her heartbeat to slow down.

"Spam mail," Ian sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"Oh," she replied insipidly.

"Ah, so what did you want me to do?" he asked.

It took entirely too long for Hollis to realize that he was talking about their work. She felt like she'd fried a few too many brain cells in that one intense moment with him. "Oh," she said again. "It's just that…I know you have doubts about what I saw last night. It's only logical. So please feel free to ask me whatever you want."

"Okay," he said gamely. "Why did you pull back just now?"

Her cheeks burned again and she hated that her response was so obvious. Ian's gaze was relentless as he waited for an answer. She started to say something unintelligible, but stopped. Finally she settled for the truth. "I don't know."

Ian nodded once. "Fair enough," he said. "Would you mind going over what you saw last night one more time?"

Hollis was grateful for the change of subject, so she launched into her story, letting him interrupt to ask questions or press her for more details.

"I lost sight of the subject when she went inside an apartment building," she said after a while.

"When was this?"

"Maybe about ten minutes before she killed the man. She squeezed through a basement window that I couldn't fit through." Risa Sinclair was very slender while Hollis had a curvy, hourglass figure. "I waited down the block a little and she came out only a few minutes later."

"Did you see any blood on her? Or maybe a change in her skin color?

"No, but it was dark. I don't have your eyesight," she said. "But she looked...high. I guess that's the right word. Her eyes were more luminescent and she looked as if a huge weight had been lifted off her."

Ian considered that for a moment. "Those aren't strong indications that she fed."

"No. But our data shows that she doesn't kill by feeding, unless she covers it up really well. She usually just breaks necks. Honestly, I think that she did kill someone in there and she was really happy about it."

"Okay. What next?"

"She walked down the street a little ways. I'm not sure where we were, but the neighborhood was really poverty-stricken. You saw it. Anyways, she was walking and then she sort of froze, like she was listening to something. I thought she'd heard me, but then she turned down the next block. There was a guy in a leather jacket, holding a kid up against a wall, punching him hard in the stomach. I didn't hear what the man was saying, but I watched Risa grab him by the collar of his jacket and pull him off the kid. The boy ran away while she fought with the leather jacket guy. Eventually she had him on the ground and I watched her break his neck. Then she stood up, looking just as high as she had when she came out of the apartment building, and she kept walking. You came up behind me right after that."

"So you think that's enough for us to convict her?"

"From what I saw, she murdered him; it wasn't self-defense. The people she kills aren't saints, not by a long shot, but she still plays judge, jury, and executioner. That's what we're here to evaluate, right?"

"Yes. It's just..."

"I know," Hollis said softly. She looked at him sympathetically. "The cops will never get some of these guys. After reading up on them, you start to wonder if maybe she's doing the right thing."

"Yeah," Ian admitted, bowing his head.

"Humans have their own justice system. It's not perfect, but it's the best one we could come up with. Vigilantism only weakens it. And we know that what she's doing is starting to cause a lot of unrest between the Night World and Circle Daybreak."

Ian glanced at the computer and frowned. "You know, I don't even think that she realizes it. We've been watching her for a while now...there's no sign that she has any contact with the Night World. From what we've seen on the screen, what you saw last night, she doesn't work with anyone or even talk to anyone. She doesn't even have a phone or a TV. She might not even be aware of the copycats."

Hollis thought about it and nodded. "You might be right. So are you thinking that assassination may not be the right way to go?"

"I don't know. The sooner this is resolved, the better. With any luck, the string of copycat crimes will end and maybe we can find the ones who have killed already. But…I just don't know."

"You don't have to decide right now," she said. "Take a little more time."

Ian exhaled. "I think I need to talk to her."

Hollis shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. You should rely on objective evidence. Everything she says to you could be a lie."

"Yeah, I know, but…" He trailed off, staring at the computer. "What the hell…"

"What?" Hollis asked. She leaned over to see the screen and her eyes widened. There was a man in Risa Sinclair's kitchen, lying on top of her, pinning her to the floor. Hollis could tell that the subject was angry, but the planted cameras didn't record sound, so she didn't know what they were saying.

Then the subject got up and walked to the bedroom. She stripped off the bloodied sweatshirt and changed clothes while the man stood on a chair in the living room, looking directly into one of their cameras.

"Son of a bitch," Ian breathed.

"You know him?"

"Not really. I know _of_ him. That's Jonas Carden, another Daybreak assassin. I got a memo that he was fired a few days ago. What the hell is he doing there?"

The image of the living room flickered and turned sideways. Then the picture went black. "Breaking our camera, from the looks of it," Hollis said.

The kitchen camera still worked and it caught the subject and the ex-Daybreaker leaving the apartment together.

"What is going on?" Ian whispered.

Hollis just shook her head.


	7. Overload

Risa was standing across the room from him, her eyes unfocused as she looked at the floor. He had told her that she was targeted for assassination and she hadn't said anything. Carden wanted to wait for some response from her, but the longer the silence dragged on, the more irritated and impatient he became.

Finally he strode over to her and grabbed her shoulders. "Didn't you hear me?" he shouted. "Daybreak wants you dead!"

Her eyes snapped up to his face and she looked like she was just waking up, confused and disoriented. "What did you tell them, Carden?" she asked.

At first he couldn't answer. He just wanted to shake her again. "You think I sold you out?" he asked incredulously.

"Anything for the Daybreak ideals, right? You said you got fired because of me. Did you finally let it slip that you'd screwed a murderer? You knew about me and didn't turn me in, so that makes you an accessory. Daybreak sure as hell wouldn't stand for that."

"You are out of your goddamn mind!" he shouted back at her. "You're even more paranoid than you were when I left."

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean—"

"Doesn't mean they're not after you," Carden finished for her sarcastically. "Spare me your bullshit rhetoric, Risa. If you'd really like to know, I got fired for selling out a _Wild Power_ to protect you from maybe the one person I've ever met who is more psychotic than you are. Do you want me to describe exactly what he was planning on doing to you?"

Risa didn't answer him. He pushed her away in frustration and she stumbled back a few steps.

"Why did you do it?" she asked in a dull voice.

"Why do you think," he snapped. "Damn it."

"Is it supposed to be that obvious, Carden? Because it's not. You betrayed me and you left me. I haven't seen or heard from you in eight years. You left me alone, all this time." There was an emptiness in her eyes as she said that. It cut through him like a razor.

"You know why I left."

Risa snorted. "Ah. Right. You couldn't stand to be reminded of your blundering mistake. But was it the guilt or the disgust that got to you?"

Carden just looked at her. He could have sworn that she knew. Maybe subconsciously she did, and she was just lying to herself now to escape her share of the responsibility.

She came closer to him, so that he could feel the heat of her body. "Or maybe it was the desire you couldn't take," she said in a provocative voice. "Maybe once you'd gotten a taste of me, you just wanted more. Tell me, Carden, how did it feel?"

He shook his head sadly. "You're pathetic," he whispered and turned away from her.

For once she didn't have a retort. She just sat down on the bed and after a minute she laid back, letting her legs dangle off the edge.

"So why is Daybreak after me?" she asked.

Carden stood by the hotel window, peering out from behind the curtain. "I don't know yet, but someone is working on it for me. All I know is that there was an assassin tailing you last night and there was a camera on your ceiling."

"You were watching me last night?"

The accusing tone in her voice irritated him. "For a while. And it was a damn good thing that I did or you could be dead by now."

"I can take care of myself," she snapped.

"Right. Of course. I forgot."

"Don't patronize me like that."

He turned towards her and saw that she'd propped herself up on her elbow and was glaring at him with those amazing, luminescent eyes. Even when she'd been human, her eyes had been magnetic. With a single look, she'd been able to reduce him to a desperate, licentious shell of a man.

"I don't want to fight with you, Risa."

"Then why do you keep baiting me?"

A self-effacing smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Habit, I guess."

She fell back again and turned over to face the other wall. He supposed that was her way of telling him that she was giving him the silent treatment. It would probably be better that way.

Damn Daybreak. If there wasn't a contract on Risa, then he might have been back in LA by now. They wouldn't have fought or hurt each other all over again.

But he wouldn't have gotten the chance to touch her either. Suddenly, he wasn't sure that he would trade that for anything. When he'd been lying on top of her, it was the first time that he'd felt whole in eight years.

Fuck, this was not good.

Carden sat down at the desk and rested his forehead against the heel of his hand, as if he were trying to push away a raging headache. He didn't know how long they stayed that way—him staring down at the desk with his head in his hands and his soulmate lying across the room with her back to him—but he was vaguely aware of the sun setting and the hotel room falling into darkness.

"I can't stay here much longer," Risa said quietly. The glow of the streetlights cast an unnatural, yellowish tint on her motionless body.

"Suffering from withdrawal, sweetheart?"

"I'm in the middle of something. I have work to do."

Of course she did. She always did. "Well," Carden said coldly, "it can damn well wait."

"It _can't_," she insisted. "There are two dead girls, killed by a shapeshifter. The evidence won't be—"

Carden's cell phone rang and it cut Risa off. The vampire answered it immediately and then stepped out into the hallway to talk. He didn't want his soulmate to overhear this conversation.

"Cahill, did you get it?" he asked.

"Yes," the witch replied. "I hacked into the New York City branch's database and cross-referenced it with— "

"Okay, okay. What did you find out?"

Cahill didn't answer right away. "It's not good."

"I figured that out when I realized she was being followed by an assassin. Stop trying to soften the blow and spit it out already!"

"Alright. It looks like Risa Sinclair first came to Daybreak's attention five years ago. The NYPD was investigating the murder of man who was a suspected rapist. They pulled prints from the crime scene, ran them through IAFIS, and got an interesting hit. Risa's fingerprints had been entered into the state-level database six years earlier when she was arrested for assault, though she was later released due to insufficient evidence. Well, the problem was that the prints they pulled from the rapist crime scene were fresh, but the public records said that Risa Sinclair died the year before."

The witch paused, as if unsure how to continue. "I'm assuming that that was when she was changed into a vampire," Cahill finally said. "Is that right?"

Carden could hear the witch's unspoken question, the one that he was too courteous to ask directly. "Yeah," he answered hoarsely. "That's right."

"Well," Cahill went on nonchalantly, "Daybreak has a few people in the NYPD for this sort of situation. When they heard about a dead girl somehow being involved in a recent murder, they took over the case. Searching through old evidence, they discovered that Risa could be placed at the scenes of several murders and, as time passed, even more evidence was found against her at new crime scenes. The NYPD Daybreakers eventually managed to track her down. Risa apparently gets her blood supply from three different Daybreak banks around the city and she tends to alternate them. Eventually the cops anticipated which bank she'd go to, staked it out, and tailed her home. Then they passed on the information to the New York headquarters.

"Due to the new policies, an assassin, Ian McCafferty, was assigned to work with an investigator, Hollis Pasquale, to determine what needs to be done about Risa. I'm not going to lie to you; she has a lot working against her. She's using her powers for vigilante justice and, while it seems that she intends to kill people that she believes are evil, she has mistakenly killed some innocent people over the years. She's drawing attention to the existence of the Night World by leaving behind evidence and sometimes killing in ways that would be impossible for a human girl. While Daybreak does want humans and the Night World to coexist peacefully, the human world, for the most part, isn't ready yet. So, not only is Risa drawing attention to something that Daybreak would rather keep hidden for right now, she's doing it in a very negative way."

"But what the hell!" Carden raged. "Daybreak is supposed to be passive. Assassinations are supposed to be a last resort. She's just one vampire. Why aren't they even thinking about just locking her up?" He couldn't believe he was saying that now, after years of scoffing at it. He'd always believed that Daybreak was too acquiescent and wasted too much time, money, and lives by trying to avoid taking out people who were obviously a threat.

"Killing still is a last resort, Carden. And it will be up to Ian McCafferty to decide what action to take. Risa is only one vampire, yes, but thanks to Night World infiltration, the word has gotten out about what she's doing. She has copycats in at least three different cities and the Night World is hailing all of them for slaughtering the worst of the so-called human vermin."

"Fucking A."

"I know. To be honest, it seems like Daybreak just wants her out of the picture as quickly and quietly as possible. And the last transmission from the investigation team states that Hollis Pasquale witnessed Risa killing a human man for beating up a teenage kid outside of his building."

"Fucking A. Fucking A!" Carden punched the wall and his fist plowed straight through the plaster. Damn his soulmate! Damn her to hell for getting herself into this. And damn him as well.

"I'm sorry," Cahill said. "I really am. I think your best bet is to try to talk to Ian McCafferty. Get Risa to explain her side of the story. Maybe a deal could be worked out."

"Right," Carden spat. "The kind of deal that will involve keeping her in a cell for the rest of eternity."

"She's killed a lot of people," the witch said softly.

"I know that! I knew that eight years ago! I couldn't get her to stop. But most of the people she's killed were bad, Cahill. Really bad. And either way, locking her up doesn't bring them back!" He broke off, realizing that the other hotel guests could probably hear him. And he knew that if he didn't get a grip, he was going to tear this building apart with his bare hands. "Once she knows that she's killed innocent people…no one can punish her as much as she'll punish herself."

"I understand that. But I'm not the one you have to convince. Talk to Ian." The witch rattled off the address of the Daybreaker's hotel. It was only a few blocks from the house Risa was living in.

Carden swallowed back his anger. "Okay," he conceded. "Thanks for your help."

"Let me know if there's anything else I can do. _Anything_, Carden. Understand?"

"Thanks. I will."

He hung up his phone and tried to take some deep breaths. He'd been hit with too many blows at once and his mind couldn't get around any of them. Risa being investigated by the NYPD about a slew of murders, Risa responsible for killing innocent people, Risa inspiring copycat killers, Risa being hailed by the Night World, Risa behind bars for centuries as the rest of the world went on without her…

Carden charged back into his hotel room and found her sitting up on the bed with her feet tucked under her. Her long, dark hair fell limply about her face and it made her eyes seem even more haunted. She looked so fragile and vulnerable that he wanted to crush her against him just to keep her safe.

"You found out something?" she asked.

"Sure," he said numbly. "Something." More than he'd bargained for, more than he'd wanted to know.

* * *

Ian let Hollis do her thing. She was typing and clicking furiously on the computer, biting her lip as she worked. He was surprised when she told him that she'd been a computer nerd since her childhood. Most of the tech geeks that he'd met in the past had fit the stereotype perfectly: thick glasses, pasty complexion, acne, addictions to "Dungeons and Dragons," and a distinct lack of good hygiene habits and basic social skills.

As he watched her work, Ian thought that Hollis was the antithesis of the stereotype. Her skin was slightly pale, but her complexion was perfectly radiant. He'd noticed that she actually kept a small arsenal of cleansers, moisturizers, and other unnamable products lined up around her bathroom sink. Her blond hair was sleek and shining, and when he'd leaned over her shoulder to see the computer screen, he'd been distracted by the scent of peaches. He'd been compelled to lean in closer and breathe in the fragrance of her hair more deeply.

Ian was in trouble and he knew it. He wasn't sure when it had happened. He and Hollis had only been civil to each other for a few hours, but when he thought about it, Ian realized that this feeling, whatever it was, had been there since the beginning. Maybe that was the reason that being malicious to her had been so easy: he'd acted like a five year-old pushing over the girl he liked in the sandbox.

"Okay," she said excitedly, rousing him out of his thoughts, "I think I've got something."

He went to stand next to her chair, trying to keep his distance. He'd read in her thoughts that it made her nervous when he stood too close to her. Before, when he nearly smelled her hair, she'd been ready to jump out of her skin.

"According to the police file, Risa Sinclair died in a car accident eight years ago. Her car flipped off a bridge into the river. It happened in Greenwich, Connecticut, where her family still lives, and her body was never found."

"Convenient."

"Indeed. Greenwich is pretty close to the city; it's only a short train ride away. And some of the cold case evidence found by the NYPD places Risa at the crime scenes of a few murders and assaults right here in New York."

"So we know that our girl was an active vigilante even before she was changed into a vampire."

"Right. But here's the interesting thing: Jonas Carden was working for Circle Daybreak in New York City up until eight years ago. He was transferred to Los Angeles the same week that Risa Sinclair supposedly died."

"You've got to be kidding me," Ian whispered. He braced himself on the desk and bowed his head. "He changed her."

"Maybe," Hollis agreed. "Or maybe he knew her and was angry or hurt or…whatever after someone else changed her. Or maybe it's just a coincidence."

"Why come back here now? How did he know about our camera?"

"I don't know. It says in his file that he was fired by Anton Parish, the director of the Washington, DC compound. He was on a team that was supposed to transfer a Wild Power to another location. The notes are really vague, but it seems like a lot of things went wrong and Carden was asked to leave do to 'dangerous lack of judgment' and 'irresponsibility.'"

"That doesn't help us much."

"No. But as soon as Carden left the compound, he must have hopped a plane to New York. According to the passenger list, there was no Jonas Carden aboard any flight to the city in the last week."

"Well he's got to watch his back, even if he isn't working for Daybreak any more. There are still a lot of people out there who would love to see him dead."

"Right. Okay. So what do we have so far?" She grabbed a sheet of notebook paper to start a bulleted list. Ian grinned in spite of himself. He was starting to find her obsessive organizational skills cute. He really was in trouble.

"Most likely, Carden and Risa knew each other when he was working here eight years ago. It's possible that he's the one who changed her. Whatever happened, it must have been ugly because we haven't found any evidence that they've communicated since then."

"So in the interim," Hollis said, picking up the thread, "he works in LA while she stays in New York and continues the killing spree. The records are sketchy, but it looks like she started to escalate, killing more often, over the past eight years."

"Then Carden heads to DC for that Wild Power job and ends up getting fired. He flies to New York…then we've got nothing. We still don't know how he found out about that camera. We don't know how much he knows about us. And we don't know where he took Risa."

Hollis rubbed her neck, then let her head fall forward and rolled it from side to side. "Are you okay?" Ian asked her.

She lifted her head. "Yeah, I've just got a stiff neck. I must have slept funny."

"No, you didn't sleep," Ian told her.

Her face turned bright red almost instantly and she looked away. "Oh yeah," she said with an awkward laugh. "Maybe it's from leaning over the computer then."

Ian shifted his weight. Without meaning to, he'd made her uncomfortable again by reminding her that he'd heard her cry. He'd been told a few times that he lacked tact, but he'd never really been aware of it until now. It seemed like everything he said and did was wrong.

He couldn't stop thinking about his crass attempt to kiss her. They'd been so close and her full, soft lips had been _right there_. Ian wasn't sure what had come over him, but it had seemed like the most natural thing in the world to lean in closer and see what it felt like to have his lips pressed against hers. But from her deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression, he had obviously violated some sort of boundary between them.

"I don't mean to make you nervous," Ian blurted out. Hollis flushed a deeper shade of red and he knew that he'd said something tactless yet again. Well, it was too late now. He had to finish what he'd started. "I don't mean to embarrass you."

"You don't," she said weakly.

"We're trying for honesty now, princess. Remember?"

Hollis bit her lip again and got up out of her chair. Ian watched her walk restlessly across the room and back again. "Fine. You make me nervous," she said as she kept pacing. "But it's not you. It's me. I don't want to be this uneasy and then just thinking that makes me even more uneasy. And then I look at you and you're not even doing anything but standing there and I don't even know why I'm nervous."

Ian stood, rooted to the floor, while his partner picked up speed. The words tumbled from her mouth faster and faster. He already knew that Hollis had a tendency to ramble, especially when she was flustered, but he'd always cut her off before long. Watching her now, he started to wonder if she was talking to him or if she was just thinking aloud.

"I hated you yesterday," she went on as she reached one wall and whipped around to walk the other way, "and that was easier because at least then you weren't trying to kiss me. Not that that was such a horrible thing. I mean, it was a flattering thing because you're probably the most gorgeous guy that has ever come on to me and I came _this close _to letting you do it. But you were horrible to me up until a few hours ago and I don't even know you and I know that you've been with a lot of girls and I don't want to be played and I don't even know what you want from me. All I know is that you're always looking at me now and you tried to smell my hair and I want you to respect me. And I don't think that you'll respect me if I let you kiss me because I don't even know if _I_ would respect me if I let you do that. I'm supposed to be working and I have professional standards and we've already let our personal business get in the way of our work and it can't happen again. And what would happen after you kissed me? Are we dating then? Would you want more from me? Would you want to forget it ever happened or are you just trying to get another notch on your belt? And I don't even know you, Ian! What if—"

He closed the distance between them and reached out to cup the back of her neck. Without hesitation or any sort of finesse, he brought his mouth down over hers, cutting her off mid-sentence.

He'd taken her by surprise and she tried to pull away, but Ian held her still. After another moment, her arms came up around his neck and she pressed herself against him with surge of passion that matched his own.

And then it was all over for Ian. His fingers swept through her hair, down her back, up the sides of her body. Hollis gasped against his mouth and her nails dug into his shoulders.

"This is wrong," she whispered unsteadily as his lips trailed down her throat.

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked in a husky voice, then flicked his tongue over a sensitive spot on her neck.

"No," she moaned as he nibbled on her ear lobe. "Mm…maybe." His fingers skimmed the sides of her breasts. "Ahh…this isn't me. This isn't like me."

Ian kissed her mouth again and her lips opened under his eagerly. "Maybe this is you, princess," he said, his lips brushing hers as he spoke. "Maybe the rest is just a façade."

Hollis kneaded his shoulders and raked her nails through his hair. "I hate the façade," she murmured. "But you won't respect me without it. You won't respect me after this."

His hands ran down her back again and then his left hand trailed down her thigh while his other hand held her against him. His tongue teased her collarbone. "I wouldn't do this if I didn't respect you, Hollis," he whispered with hushed heat.

Her head fell back as he kissed her neck again. "I don't want to be just another girl to you. Just another amusing way to pass the time."

Ian gazed into her golden eyes. "I don't know what you've heard about me or what you've assumed, princess, but I don't sleep around," he swore to her. He grasped her thigh and lifted it up over his hip. Hollis moaned and took the initiative to wrap her leg around his back, letting him support her weight. "You're not just another girl. You drive me crazy. You always have. No other girl has driven me even half as mad as you do."

She kissed him passionately, in a way that made him ache. "You want me because I'm exasperating?" she whispered between kisses.

He caressed her cheek with his free hand. "I want you because you're you."

For once it seemed like he'd said the right thing because Hollis wrapped her arms around his neck again and devoured his mouth. She lifted her other leg and Ian picked her up, so that both of her legs were clasped around his waist. He carried her a few steps over to the bed and laid her down on her back.

Her silky hair was fanned out around her and her catlike eyes were darkened with desire. She hardly resembled the tense, closed-off girl that she tried so hard to be. But didn't she know how beautiful she was like this, so fiery and self-possessed?

"God, I know this is wrong," she murmured, even as she let his hands wander over her body. "This is so stupid."

Suddenly uncertain, Ian looked at her. Maybe she was right. Maybe she was thinking more clearly than he was. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked her.

She pulled him down on top of her and sighed. "No," she said resolutely. "God, no."

Ian leaned in to taste her lips again. "Just say the word, princess," he whispered against her mouth. "Any time, just say it."

Hollis nodded, but hastily grasped the hem of his shirt, pulling it up over his head. Feeling her cool fingers slide over his back, Ian shuddered. In the next instant, he had ripped her shirt off as well, gasping at the feel of her bare skin against his.

And then there were no more words. Ian simply lost himself in the taste of her skin, the smell of her hair, the sound of her cries, the heat between them.


	8. Forgive, Forget, and Regret

He laid it out for her, coldly and bluntly. The tone of his voice never wavered, not when he brought up her "death", not even when he told her that she'd killed innocent people. It was as if he were reading aloud from a poorly written script.

When it was over, Risa felt as detached as he had seemed when he'd been speaking. The only thought in her mind was that she was really a murderer, no better than the people she'd been hunting down for over ten years. She'd killed innocents and she'd left their bodies to rot, the way the wolf shifter had done with those two girls.

Carden waved his hand in front of her face and snapped his fingers a few times, trying to wake her up from her trance, but Risa wouldn't let him penetrate the cloud that separated her from consciousness. She thought that if she allowed herself to feel anything at all, she'd start screaming and would never stop.

Unfortunately, Carden had the trump card. He held her wrist lightly, as if he were feeling for her pulse, and the soulmate link opened between them.

_Risa, come back to earth_, his voice echoed in her mind. _You can't hide here forever_.

She could see the two of them in her mind's eye, standing on opposite sides of a gaping chasm. The world around them was nebulous and cool. Their voices were dampened here, but Risa could hear him clearly, even though he was so far from her that she could barely make out the features of his face. She folded her arms antagonistically. _Watch me_, she told him.

_Don't do this. I'll keep you safe. I won't let anyone hurt you._

Risa sneered. The winds in this world of her mind picked up and blew her hair forward. She let it rage until she saw it push Carden back from the edge of the chasm. _No, I suppose you'd like to reserve all the rights for that for yourself. _

_I never wanted to hurt you._ The words felt like his kiss, brushing over her skin and igniting something inside her that she wanted to ignore. _You're my soulmate, Risa._

Pretty words, pretty sentiments. Tell me, how many girls have you fucked since you left me?

His sigh tickled her ears. _Enough to get you out of my head. _

_Really,_ she said sarcastically. _That few?_

_I don't have to explain myself to you. You left me long before I ever left you._

_I don't know what you're talking about._

_Of course not. That was always the problem, sweetheart._

_Get the hell out of here!_ Risa cried. _This is my head, my world, and you're not welcome!_

_I'm not leaving without you._

_To hell with that, Carden. I'm waiting here until the assassin comes for me. _

_Why do you have to do this?_ he lashed out at her. _Why do you have to be so difficult?_

_Why do you always have to fight so goddamn hard for me, Carden?_ she shouted back. _It's pointless and unfair. I killed innocent people. I deserve whatever I get and then some._

_Typical, Risa. This is just so fucking typical of you. Everything is your fault, everything is your responsibility! Ever since your father died, you've carried the fate of every person in this entire damn city on your shoulders._

_Don't talk about my father_, she warned him and hit him with another gust of wind.

But Carden carried on heedlessly. _Shit happens, Risa. Hasn't anyone ever told you that? I'm sorry for what happened to your father, but you have no right to blame yourself for that or for anything else that you hold yourself responsible for. How egotistical are you, thinking that you can control the world, sweetheart?_

Risa had had enough of this conversation. She'd come here to escape her emotions, but it was clear that her soulmate wasn't going let that happen. So she withdrew from her mind and focused on the beige carpet in the hotel room. At first it felt like she was seeing it through a straw, but then it started to expand and the room took shape around her.

She blinked a few times, trying to moisten her eyes, which were painfully dry from staring into space for so long.

Carden had followed her back into reality. His grip tightened on her wrist and she wrenched away from him, getting up off the bed. She started for the door, but her soulmate moved to block the way.

"Get the fuck out of my way," she said fiercely.

"You're not going anywhere, sweetheart. You can try to fight me if you want, but we both know that you're going to lose."

"Damn it!" she shouted, slamming her hands uselessly against his chest. He didn't budge. "Damn you, Carden. Why are you doing this to me?"

"Doing what?" he yelled back. "Trying to keep you alive?"

"I don't deserve to live, you ass. Not after what I've done."

Carden's eyes were wide and he was quiet for a moment, shaking his head slightly. "You won't be happy until you're dead, will you?" he whispered, as if marveling.

"Technically, I'm already dead. Thanks to you. I told you no, I begged you to stop and you didn't."

"It was the only way that I could keep you _alive_, Risa! You were going after guys twice your size, some with an entire gang behind them. You hunted down people with knives, guns with nothing but a few black belts to protect you. You came home night after night with your bones cracked, covered in bruises, covered in your own blood. You may not have cared if you survived, but I sure as hell did. What was I supposed to do, Risa? I begged you to stop, too, and you didn't. And I loved you too damn much to let you kill yourself!"

Risa recoiled as if he had slapped her. No words would come, no thoughts would form.

Carden noticed her reaction and it only seemed to make him angrier. "What? Did you think I did it to punish you? Did you believe that I didn't think you were good enough the way you were? Did you think that I just wanted your blood and got carried away? Tell me, Risa."

She couldn't answer and she didn't need to. He already knew.

"My god!" he shouted. "How could you not know?"

"You left me!" she cried. "You changed me and then you left me, Carden. You hated what I did—you told me so, over and over again. The next thing I knew, you took my life and my family away from me, and then you left and never looked back. What was I supposed to think?"

"You…your family? Risa, what are you talking about?"

She just glared at him murderously.

The anger was abruptly gone from his face. Without the anger and the arrogance, he looked so young and defenseless. "Does your family think you're dead? Does Cori think you're dead?"

Hearing him say her sister's name, Risa could scarcely bear the pain. "Yes," she replied, her voice barely audible.

Her soulmate was quiet for a second and he swallowed hard. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"When did I have the chance? You were gone. And anyway, what does it matter?"

His eyes started to look red and bleary. Risa was astounded. Carden the unconquerable was trying to force away the tears. "I never meant for you to do that, Risa," he whispered. "I never wanted to take your family from you. You could have told them the truth."

She didn't want to talk about this. The memory hurt too much. She'd watched her family standing over an empty casket that was supposed to contain her body. She listened to her mother sobbing the way that she had when they buried her father. When she watched her little sister grieving for her that day, Risa was sure that part of her had died.

"I didn't want them to know," she finally said. "I couldn't stand the thought of Cori hating me or being afraid of me. I just wanted to protect her." She looked down and her voice fell even further. "It was all I ever wanted."

Carden came closer to her and gently touched her face. She stood eerily still as he brushed her hollow cheeks with the back of his knuckles. He ran his fingertips over the four scars that raked across her face, making her shiver. She couldn't believe that she was letting him touch her this way, after all he'd done, after all of this fighting. But something inside of her needed it. He had strength and confidence, everything that she was lacking, and she wanted to feel those things through him.

"Then why was it so hard for you to understand that I wanted the same for you?" he asked.

Risa looked up at him, confused. He felt it and she knew that it hurt him.

His thumb caressed her lower lip. It was an old gesture of intimacy between them. She knew that he wanted to kiss her—she could feel it in the way that he stared down at her, expectantly. He was still waiting for her permission and she couldn't give it.

"What do we do now?" she whispered.

Carden took her hand and led her over to the bed. She looked at him suspiciously, but he just pulled the covers back and gestured for her to lie down. Risa sighed with pleasure as she sank into the gloriously soft mattress. Trust her soulmate to choose one of the few hotels in the city that had comfortable beds.

Once she rested her head on the pillow, Carden pulled the blankets up over her shoulders. He kneeled down next to the bed, so that his eyes were level with hers. Brushing her hair back from her face, he said, "Sleep now. I'll figure something out."

He started to stand up, but Risa grabbed his forearm. He watched as she silently slid over in the bed and tugged him down next to her. She couldn't ask him outright and he seemed to understand it. He just lay down on his side and draped his arm over her waist, holding her close.

* * *

Hollis opened her eyes, but it did nothing to relieve the darkness. Her wits still dull with sleep, she blinked a few times before she realized that it was nighttime. There was something gnawing at her, but she couldn't quite place it. She glanced around the room and remembered that she was staying in a hotel, on assignment. 

But wait…wasn't her window on the other side of the bed? Wasn't her bathroom towards her right, not her left? This room was like a mirror image of her room…

She heard a sigh next to her and she froze. The gnawing sensation suddenly escalated and it felt like it was eating her alive.

Ian was lying next to her.

This was Ian's hotel room.

She was naked next to Ian in his hotel room.

Deftly she slipped out from underneath the blankets and slid onto the floor, hugging her knees into her chest. The air was warm, almost sultry, but Hollis was shivering as she rocked slightly.

What had she done?

The lingering fog of sleep had been burned away and the raw, vivid images of the few hours she'd spent with Ian assaulted her. The things she had done…It made her blush, it made her shake, and, worst of all, it made her want more.

She'd had sex once before, but it hadn't been like this. It had been dull and boring. Hollis distinctly remembered thinking, _That's it?_ The entire experience had completely turned her off to the act.

But with Ian…

She looked up at him, still lying on his stomach on the bed. The blanket was only pulled up to his waist, exposing his lean, bare back. There were red marks marring his shoulders from where she'd scratched him and his dark hair was mussed from the times she'd run her fingers through it. Smoothing down her own hair, Hollis realized that it was horribly disheveled as well.

My god, what had come over her? It was too humiliating. She'd acted like some sort of cheap porn star and Ian undoubtedly thought of her that way now, too. She should have known better, but after that first kiss he'd extorted from her, Hollis had completely lost every shred of common sense.

Ian rolled over and she held her breath, afraid that he was about to wake up. But even after he settled back down, she knew that she couldn't stay here any longer. She hastily got up and dashed through the adjoining door into her own hotel room. Feeling her way through the darkness, she made it into the bathroom and started the shower without turning on the lights. Under the fluorescent glare, this would just be too real. She would see her messy hair, her swollen lips, the skin that Ian had touched.

She quickly washed and then sat down in the tub, letting the scalding water spray over her.

What was she going to do? It was the middle of the night and she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep, but she didn't want to think either. She had to work. Yes, that was it. Work had gotten her through some rough times before and it would get her through this night.

But her laptop and papers were in Ian's room. She couldn't go back in there, but she couldn't stay in this room alone, pretending to watch TV as she paced around, trying to forget what happened. And she was going to have to face him again at some point…

Unless she took off tonight. She could always leave. She'd been planning on leaving just last night because of him. Jesus, one night she was running out because Ian was being a jerk and the next night she was running because she'd slept with him. She had to be the stupidest girl who'd ever lived.

There was a knock on her bathroom door and she lost her breath.

"Hollis?" Ian called through the door. He knocked again when she didn't answer.

_Pretend not to hear him, pretend not to hear him…_

She sat completely still, trying to listen for another knock. Her heartbeat was pounding in her ears.

"Hollis, if you don't answer me, I'm coming in there. Just tell me that you're all right, you've been in the shower for over an hour."

She was startled that it had been so long. It hadn't felt like it. Somehow, she summoned her voice. "I'm fine!"

"Could you come out, then? We need to talk."

Christ, Christ, Christ.

Hollis reached over her head and felt for the faucet, turning it off. She simply sat for a long moment and let the water run off of her, pleading for the courage to make it through this. Finally she stood up and toweled off. She hadn't thought to bring any clothes in the bathroom with her, so she wrapped the towel tightly around herself before she opened the door.

The lights from the room momentarily blinded her.

"Are you okay?" Ian asked her. He was sitting on the edge of her bed, wearing a pair of soccer shorts. The site of his naked chest forced the blood back into Hollis's cheeks.

"Fine," she said, hugging the towel closer to herself.

"Really," he said skeptically. "I wouldn't call showering for an hour after sneaking out of your lover's bed in the middle of the night 'fine.'"

Hollis was almost dumbstruck that he'd referred to them as "lovers." The term simultaneously repulsed and excited her. But she had to ignore both reactions if she wanted to stay calm. "What do you want me to say?" she asked.

Ian's eyes burned into her and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know," he said. "Just tell me something real."

Her mind was utterly blank. "I learned to read when I was three," she muttered nonsensically.

"Goddess," he hissed and pushed himself off the bed with frustration.

"You said to say something true," Hollis started to babble.

"I asked you for something _real_, princess." He looked at her with an unreadable expression. "Are you sorry about what happened?"

She couldn't return his gaze. "Yes," she whispered.

"Why?"

Hollis stared at the floor. "We work together. It shouldn't have happened."

Ian shook his head. "That's a lie. That's just an excuse."

"Is that right?" she said sarcastically. "Then why don't you enlighten me."

She regretted the words as soon as she said them. She'd challenged him and he wasn't going to back down. He was going to rip her apart.

Ian stood so close to her that she had to lift her head to see his face. He looked down at her and his expression made her stomach flip. Reaching out, he combed his fingers through her wet hair, pushing it back behind her shoulder. Hollis knew that she should stop him, but she couldn't seem to muster the will to speak or step away.

He bowed his head, his lips grazing the outer shell of her ear, and she gasped audibly. "The truth is that you're not sorry at all," he murmured against her ear, sending a wave of shivers through her. Dizzy, Hollis clutched onto his shoulders in spite of herself. "You're scared."

She might have argued with him if her mind hadn't completely melted, if she wasn't so caught up in the heat that flared between them. Ian's hands came around her and settled on her hips.

"You're afraid of this," he said. "And you're afraid of yourself, princess. You let yourself go with me and it terrifies you. You're letting that uptight, pedantic, conservative, 'I'm-just-a-nice-smart-good-girl' veneer slip away right now and I'm barely touching you. You want me, and you're afraid of what that means."

He was right, she realized. His grip tightened on her and she could feel the heat of his hands through the thick terrycloth towel. The reckless desire flooded her senses again.

Ian's cheek grazed hers as he pulled back. He let his lips brush against hers as he spoke. "I told you before that I wouldn't have slept with you if I didn't respect you, Hollis, and I meant it. But you need to learn to respect yourself, whoever that really is."

He moved slightly and Hollis thought that he was going to lean in to deepen the kiss, but instead he backed away from her.

She stood like a statue as he casually switched off her light and walked back into his room, leaving the adjoining door open. Then he sprawled out on his bed and closed his eyes.

Hollis wanted to kill him. How dare he do that to her? She itched to go in there and give him a piece of her mind and maybe a slap across the face.

No. It didn't matter. She forced herself to calm down. This was a good thing, she told herself. If he was going to ignore her nonchalantly, then she could do the same. She could just pretend that nothing had happened between them.

Well, maybe she could start doing that tomorrow. Hollis was still sure that she wasn't going to be able to sleep. Fine. Very stiffly, she walked into Ian's room and sat down at the desk to seek refuge in her work, as she had all her life.

She booted up the laptop and began to go through the passenger lists of the recent flights from Washington DC to New York. Reaching into the mini-fridge next to the desk, she pulled out a can of diet soda and settled in for a long night.

After a few minutes, she threw a subtle glance at Ian. His eyes were closed and his breathing was even. The creep seemed to have fallen asleep already. Hollis typed loudly on the keyboard and hoped that it irritated him in his dreams.

* * *

Risa woke up shortly before dawn, feeling strangely peaceful. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept so well, without screaming nightmares or cold sweats. She was lying on her side and her soulmate's arm was a warm weight over her, as he held her against his chest. They were both still fully clothed and Risa thought that they hadn't lain like this since the very beginning of their relationship. 

She remembered that she was vary wary of him for a while after she found out what he was—a vampire and her soulmate. She wanted to keep both her neck and her heart safe from him. But Carden, being Carden, pursued her aggressively, using his charm and the soulmate link to his advantage. Risa tried to stay in control of the pace, but he broke through her barriers, one by one, until he had her in his bed, begging him to bite her.

She'd never bitten him. The night that he changed her, Carden drained her until she was on the brink of death and then he cut his own wrist and forced her to swallow his blood. Once she'd gotten a taste of it, of course, she couldn't stop. He had to pry her mouth away from him. But that was the only time she'd taken blood from him.

He was lying so close to her now and Risa felt tempted. What would he do, if he were to wake up and find her fangs in his throat? She couldn't even guess. Too much had happened between them in just the past day that she wasn't sure of anything any more.

"_It was the only way that I could keep you alive...I loved you too damn much to let you kill yourself!"_

Was that really true? She'd spent eight years thinking that he'd done it out of cruelty and that he'd left because he couldn't stand the sight of her. How could she have gotten it so very wrong? Well, Risa never believed that Carden had loved her in the first place. He'd never said it and she'd been too afraid to get her hopes up. And when he argued with her over hunting, telling her that it wasn't right and that she was risking too much, she just took it as proof that he disliked her and was looking for an excuse to leave her.

What Carden never knew was that Risa had started hunting because of Cori. After their father was killed, their mother fell into a deep depression and Risa took on the role of caring for her little sister. There were housekeepers and nannies to help out, but at nine years old, Risa felt like Cori was _hers_—her responsibility.

As they grew up, she would tell her sister about their father, since Cori had never really known him. Risa would explain that their father was a cop and that it was his job to protect people, that he'd been killed protecting people. Then one day, when her sister was maybe four years old, Cori asked her, in that innocent and profound way that children have, who would protect them, now that their father was dead. Risa held her sister tightly and she swore that _she_ would protect Cori at all costs.

But each morning when Risa woke up, the news was full of murders and robberies and rapes. She felt useless and defenseless, and so she began to take martial arts classes. She trained herself at a grueling pace, preparing for a battle that she didn't understand, but was sure was coming.

When she was fourteen, one of her best friends was raped after she had snuck into a dance club with a fake ID. The girl was too scared to go to the police because she would have to admit to her parents that she'd snuck out at night to go to the club.

Risa was livid. She made her friend describe the man in as much detail as possible. The next Saturday night, with a fake ID of her own, Risa was at the club. She danced provocatively by herself for a few hours, scanning the people there until she finally saw the man her friend had described. Dancing up to him, Risa rubbed her body all over him. When he suggested that she come with him to get some fresh air, she was only too happy to oblige.

Once they were alone, Risa started beating the man. She threw the man on the ground and with one blow, knocked him out. But she didn't stop. Straddling him, she punched him as hard as she could, over and over again. When her arms tired, she stood up and kicked the man in his sides and then slammed her foot in his face. She beat him until she was about to collapse, and then she walked home, covered in his blood.

She read in the paper the next day that she had killed him. She waited for the guilt and shame to come, but it didn't. Risa could only see her friend's face and her tears as she confided what the man had done to her. He would never hurt anyone again. He would never lay a hand on Cori. She thought that her father would have been proud.

Risa didn't know it at the time, but she'd lost a piece of herself that night. She'd gotten her first taste of revenge and it had been every bit as sweet as the saying promised. She took that man's life that night and in that act, she'd also given up a trace of her own. For each person she killed, she needed to kill two more, three more, ten more. It wasn't enough to just protect Cori any more; she had to protect everyone. By the time Jonas Carden had rescued her from the vampire she'd been stalking, Risa had already lost count of her kills.

_"You left me long before I ever left you."_

As much as she wanted to, she couldn't deny the truth in Carden's words. She fell in love with him, but hunting had already taken over her life. She missed him when they were apart, but she missed killing even more when they were together. Visions of vicious crimes, pain that she could have prevented, plagued her.

God, she should have listened to him when he asked her to stop, but she was out of control. She'd started hunting, believing that she had to protect her sister from the kind of people that had murdered their father, but now Risa knew that she was one of those people. She had killed innocent men who might have had children—children that would have to learn to protect themselves, just as she had. Carden might have been right; she might have blamed herself for things that were beyond her control, but she truly was responsible for killing those people and she needed to be held accountable for that.

He would never let her do that, Risa thought. She didn't know why she was so sure of that now, when everything else seemed so confusing, but she was. It didn't matter. Things could never be right for her, or for them, if she didn't make amends.

Looking at him now as he slept soundly by her side, Risa knew that she loved him. She'd never stopped loving him—it was the blessing and the curse of the soulmate principle. But she had to do the right thing.

Circle Daybreak had sent an assassin after her because they believed that it was just. In the end, Risa believed that as well. She'd seen the scrap of paper with the address of the assassin's hotel when Carden had dropped it on the bedside table. He was planning on trying to talk Ian McCafferty out of killing Risa. Well, she'd spare him the trouble.

Carefully, she disentangled herself from Carden's arm. Her soulmate groaned and rolled onto his stomach, but he didn't wake up. For a while, Risa just stared at him. She realized just how grateful she was for having this night with him.

Even though she was risking waking him up, she leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Bye," she whispered. "I love you. I'm doing this because I love you. I hope you can understand that."

Thankfully, Carden didn't stir. Even as her heart was breaking, Risa forced herself to look away from him and get out of the bed.

She grabbed the scrap of paper off the table and put it into her pocket. There was one thing she needed to take care of before she went over there. Yesterday morning she'd promised those two dead girls that she would get justice for them and Risa couldn't die without fulfilling that promise. The wolf shifter wouldn't know what hit him this time. He could save her a seat in hell.

After taking a cleansing breath, Risa put her shoes on and started for the door.

She didn't hear Carden move until he was right behind her. At the sound of his voice, her hand froze on the doorknob.

"Where the hell do you think you're going, sweetheart?"

* * *

Phew! I wrote this part at a mad pace, but I loved every second of it. This story is starting to write itself without me.

Thanks to all my reviewers from the last part! I thought I'd to some responses here so I don't clog up your mailbox or anything. :)

Incarnated-Soul: Hehe, I'm glad you liked Ian and Hollis. I swear, I had no say in that. I was going to go a different way, but all of a sudden the characters just took over and decided to sleep together. Yeah, Hollis definitely has that kind of passion in her. She's just very repressed. ;) I didn't bring up the soulmate link with her and Ian because I think that would just complicate things more and really, soulmates are everywhere else.. it's nice just to have an old-fashioned, lustful relationship. Well that was my first sort-of sex scene, I hope I did it tastefully.

Wolfseye1: Oh yeah, Hollis and Ian had tension right from the start. Even when they're getting along, there's tension. I love it. They've definitely taken up a lot more of this story than they originally were supposed to because they're just soooo much fun to write. I just think it's neat.. Risa and Carden have tension because of the past, but Ian and Hollis have it because of the present, because things are moving so fast between them. They hate each other, they want each other. C'est l'amore. :)

Thanks also to Daugain! I hope this was fast enough for you!


	9. Collide

_Thanks to my reviewers. :) You guys are too nice._

_CalliopeMused: Happy Graduation. I'm glad you had time to catch up on your reading. ;)_

_wolfseye1: Yeah, I definitely couldn't leave things sappy with Ian and Hollis. That's just not what they're relationship is like. _

_DarklightShadow: I was just reading around on fictionpress when I recognized your name. :) I'm glad you like my story as well._

_Without further ado... _

* * *

Ian was lost in the depths of sleep, dreaming of something warm and soft, when someone started to shake him. He fled from the touch, wanting to fall back into the whirlpool of sleep that was trying to suck him under the surface again. 

The shaking came harder. "Ian, wake up!"

"Five more minutes," he grumbled to the voice.

"No. Wake up now."

He opened his eyes tiredly and put his hand up to block out the morning sunlight that was filtering through the window. When he saw the girl leaning over him, haloed by the white light, his mind cleared instantly.

Hollis.

Wisps of her blond hair tickled his chest, like it had the night before, as she shook him again, apparently mistaking his captivation for grogginess. The girl might be brilliant, but she was truly clueless when it came to some things. She had no idea how hard he was fighting the urge to pull her down on top of him.

"Ian," she said again.

"You're talking to me now, princess?" he drawled, running his fingers through the mess of his hair. He tried to rub the last bit of sleep from his eyes. "I thought I'd be getting the silent treatment for at least a few days."

"We don't have time for this," she said impatiently. "I think I found Jonas Carden."

Ian sat up. "What? Where?"

Hollis didn't answer as she blushed and he realized that she was trying not to look at his bare chest. It would probably be considerate of him to pull a shirt on, but he couldn't help himself. He loved making her flustered—he had since the day that he'd met her. And if seeing him half-naked helped him break through some of her barriers, he'd be a fool not to take advantage of it.

She tore her eyes away. "I, uh, went through some of his older aliases and checked the passenger lists of the flights into New York from DC and I got a hit," she explained, staring intently at the wall. "A Sean Jones. He checked into the Hudson Hotel two days ago."

"Fantastic," he exclaimed as he leapt out of bed. "I'll go check it out. Just give me a few minutes."

Ian felt her eyes on him as he grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom. He showered in record time, the adrenaline coursing through him. Finally, they had a lead and he didn't want to let it slip through his hands.

"What are you doing to do?" Hollis asked him when he returned. She was still sitting on his bed and it surprised him a little. He'd expected her to retreat back behind the computer by then, using it as a shield between them.

"I'll take the rental car down there, see what's up. Did you get the room number?"

"He's in room 914."

"Great. I'll ask around and see if anyone saw him come in with a female guest yesterday."

"What if he did?"

Ian shrugged. "I'm thinking about just knocking on his door."

"Wait! Are you crazy?" Hollis cried. "Carden is a skilled assassin."

"Yeah," he countered, "and so am I. Trust me. The last thing he'll be expecting is for me to come out into the open like that."

"What are you going to do after that? Invite him out for a drink?" she asked sarcastically.

"Maybe," he replied. Ian sat down on the bed next to her and started to lace up his boots. Hollis slid back, failing to be subtle about it. He'd anticipated it, but it still stung. "It depends on what happens when he opens the door."

"And you called _me_ reckless. What if he kills you before you get a chance to say anything?"

Ian flashed Hollis a bright smile. "Why are you so concerned?" he asked her coyly. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that you actually care about what happens to me."

"Just because I'm angry about last night doesn't mean that I want you dead, Ian."

"Ooh, such things you say." He winked at her. "If you keep talking like that, I might not be able to leave here, princess."

"Stop patronizing me."

"Fine, as soon as you stop patronizing me. I know what I'm doing, Hollis. I'm trained for this. Why can't you trust me?"

She opened her mouth, about to reply, but then she shut it again. Ian watched her, amazed. Her eyes looked wounded for a fleeting moment. Vulnerable. He had the feeling that he'd just stumbled upon a question that was too important to be answered now, as they bickered in their all-too-familiar way.

Ian stood up, towering over her as she remained sitting on the bed. "I'll check in as soon as I can," he promised softly. He wanted to touch her, kiss her, but he knew that it would just push her further away. So he smoothed her hair and gave her a peck on the top of her head. The scent of peaches wafting from her made him ache, but he forced himself to step away. "Don't worry."

He paused before he shut the door on his way out, hoping that she might call him back. When she didn't, he pulled the door shut a little harder than necessary and headed for the elevator.

Circle Daybreak had spared too many expenses when it came to their rental car. Ian assumed that that was because they were in New York and most of the time it was far easier to take a cab, bus, or subway than it was to drive. Daybreak hadn't really expected them to need the car. But unfortunately for Ian, he wanted to stay more mobile than public transportation would allow when he went down to the Hudson Hotel.

The door to the faded blue Nissan Sentra creaked loudly as he opened it. The car might have been decent when it was new, over ten years ago, but compared to modern cars, the Sentra was primitive. It had no power windows or locks, no right side mirror, and no antilock breaks. As he started the vehicle up, Ian also realized that the power steering didn't work and neither the heat.

Great. This was the worst getaway car in the history of the world.

Well, at least it ran…for the most part. Ian pulled out onto the street and started to drive towards Manhattan.

* * *

Carden was seething. He'd only fallen asleep for a little while, but his soulmate was already trying to escape so that she could get herself killed. Catching her like this insulted him more than he would've expected. He'd actually thought that he and Risa had reached some sort of understanding last night. 

But now she stood with her hand on the doorknob and he could practically see the gears in her head turning. _Fight or flight?_ Well, she knew that she wouldn't beat him in a fight. He was stronger and more experienced than she was. So that left…

Risa threw the door open and dashed down the hall. Carden was right behind her, but she managed to keep herself more than an arm's length away. She ran past the elevator, towards the stairwell, and he knew that he'd be able to catch her in there, even if it meant jumping down several stories to cut her off.

But she flew past the stairwell door without slowing. At first he thought that Risa had simply missed it, but then he realized what his soulmate was doing. She withdrew a gun that he hadn't known she'd been carrying from the back of her jeans and shot four times at the window at the end of the hall. Carden heard the muffled screams from behind the doors of the nearest rooms as Risa ran full tilt through the shattered glass. Without thinking, he followed her out the broken window.

It wasn't until he burst, weightless, into the cold, early dawn air that Carden remembered that his hotel suite was nine stories off the ground. Risa, however, hadn't forgotten. He saw her below him, flailing her legs as she tried to aim for the dumpster that sat behind the hotel. The loosely packed garbage would help to cushion the impact when she landed. Carden, unfortunately, had leapt too far out the window to reach it. He was going to land on the pavement and it was going to break his legs. Then he wouldn't be able to catch up with Risa.

Fucking clever girl. Only she could make him proud and pissed off at the same time.

But then a car, an older, boxy model, drove up behind the hotel and slammed to a stop not far from where Carden expected he would land. He watched a dark-haired man hurry out of the vehicle, as if he were late for work, and Carden did his best to point his body in the direction of the car. It would be better to hit that than the pavement. And he took some consolation in knowing that, whatever happened to him, he'd be putting the shitty car out of its misery.

The second before he landed, he lifted his legs and took the brunt of the impact on his backside as the roof of the car crumpled under him. For a moment, Carden could only lie there on the bent and broken metal and clench his teeth against the pain ringing through his body. The blue sky spun above him.

Out of the corner of his eye, there was movement. He turned his head just in time to see Risa crawling out of the dumpster and hobbling towards the street. With a groan, he was up again, running down the hood of the car as he went after his soulmate.

* * *

Ian had only just broken into the back door of the hotel when he heard the crash outside. Oh no, he thought. Not the rental car, not right now. The last thing that he needed to be doing was listening to half-baked explanations from some half-baked kid who'd slammed into his car. And he and Hollis couldn't spare the time to find a garage to fix the car and explain the accident to the rental company as well as to their supervisor… 

He walked back through the door and his jaw dropped. There was no other car, no moronic kid. The crash had been the sound of someone landing on top of the Sentra, crushing part of the hood down into the backseat. From where he was standing, Ian couldn't see much of the person's body, but he knew that it was lying unnaturally still.

Venturing further out, he looked back up at the hotel. Several floors above him, there were a few people sticking their heads out of a large broken window as they pointed down at the body on the car. Carden had something to do with this, no question. But Ian didn't know if the person had jumped or if he'd been pushed out that window. The voices of the humans rose above a murmur and Ian turned back to the car to see what was happening.

Jonas Carden was sitting upright on the dented hood. He looked pretty banged up, but certainly alive and utterly focused.

"Son of a bitch," Ian whispered as he watched the vampire run off of the car and out towards the street, seemingly oblivious to the attention he'd drawn to himself.

"Oh, no you don't," he said to himself as he took off after Carden, following him down West 58th Street. The traffic on the sidewalk was irritatingly heavy as humans made their way to work. But Carden was forcefully pushing his way through them, inadvertently clearing a path that was easy for Ian to follow.

There was something wrong about it. It was like the other vampire didn't even notice or care that Ian was behind him. Carden wasn't running from him, Ian realized, he was running towards something.

As they turned onto 9th Avenue, Ian caught a glimpse of long, dark hair whipping up in the wind ahead of Carden. After watching her for two weeks, he recognized that hair immediately. It was Risa Sinclair.

What was going on with them? They knew each other eight years ago, but then they broke off all contact. Then Carden shows up at her apartment, knowing that she was being watched, and takes her to his hotel room downtown. And now she's running from him?

It hit Ian at once, just as he watched Carden sprint ahead to catch up to Risa. The other vampire was so rashly preoccupied with reaching her that he didn't even realize that he was being followed. That kind of desperation and reckless insanity could only be the result of one thing: the soulmate principle.

* * *

Risa's ankle was killing her. She'd smashed it into the side of the dumpster when she'd landed and she knew that it was broken. It throbbed each time she stepped on it, each time she had to adjust her weight swerve around another human who wouldn't move out of her way. But the pain didn't matter. She had to run faster. 

Carden was catching up with her. Only that arrogant ass would jump out a window nine stories off the ground and be lucky enough to land on a car that just happened to pull up. Sometimes it just didn't seem fair, how everything always worked out for him.

What would he do to her if he caught her? His anger could be petrifying. She'd always been able to hold her own against him, until that last time—the night he'd changed her into a vampire against her will. She didn't want to imagine what he'd do to her now.

_Run, run, run._

Humans blocked her path, giving her dirty looks and cursing at her as she shouted at them to let her by. Why wouldn't anyone get out of her way? Damn New Yorkers!

As Risa ran over a crack in the sidewalk, her battered ankle gave out and she pitched forward onto the ground. The rough cement scraped off her skin as she slid to a stop. The heel of a shoe stabbed into her back as she lay on the sidewalk, trying to get up again. A man stepped on her hand. A kid kicked her leg. What was wrong with these people?

Suddenly, she felt herself being hauled up off the sidewalk by the shoulder of her shirt. She looked into the smoldering eyes of her soulmate and she knew that it was over.

"Hey baby," she said, trying to sound dignified in his grip. "Going for an early morning run too?"

Carden pulled her away from the edge of the sidewalk and slammed her into the mirrored glass window of the building next to them. "I swear to god, Risa," he snarled. "Don't push me, or I'll kill you myself!"

"You already did," she reminded him. "Remember?"

"Christ! We just went over this last night!" He banged his fist against the glass, creating a spider web of cracks. Risa was stunned that he still had enough control over himself not to punch completely through it. "Yes, I changed you. I'm sorry and I'm not sorry. I wouldn't let you kill yourself then and I'm damn well not going to let you do it now."  
"Well, you supposedly loved me then, what reason do you have to stop me now?" she challenged. She tried to push him off of her, but it didn't work. "Self-preservation?"

"You are so fucking dense, sweetheart."

"And you're so fucking ambiguous, Carden. And you know what? It doesn't matter what your reasons are now. I have to be held accountable for what I've done."

"That doesn't necessarily mean _dying_."

"Daybreak has an assassin after me. You've always thought that Daybreak was just. In fact, I remember you saying that they were too lenient. You only disagree now because I'm your soulmate."

"Yeah, that's right." He leaned in closer to her and Risa's pulse fluttered, but she didn't know if it was from desire or fear. "I am your soulmate. And I'm going to fight for you, whether you like it or not. I know that you didn't kill any innocent person on purpose. And I know that it would be easier for you to die than to live with the mistakes that you've made. But that wouldn't be justice. That would be cowardice."

"I am not a coward," she snapped.

He laughed shortly. "Please. You've been afraid your entire life, Risa. That's why you started hunting in the first place."

"I started for Cori," she protested, "because I loved her."

"You're too chicken-shit to love anyone. I heard what you said before you tried to leave the hotel room. You said that you were getting yourself killed because you loved me. And that's bullshit, sweetheart. If you love someone, then you have a responsibility to stay alive and well for them."

Anger gave her the power to finally break his hold on her shoulders and shove him away. "I can't believe that you, of all people, are talking to me about responsibility. You've never taken anything seriously in your entire life!"

"I'm taking this seriously, aren't I? Do you think I'd rather be here than back in LA, celebrating my early retirement by getting completely smashed?"

"No one is stopping you!"

Her soulmate was about to advance upon her again, but a voice from behind him froze him in place. "Look, I hate to interrupt this lover's quarrel, because it's actually very fascinating, but could you two please give it a rest long enough for us to talk?"

Carden turned, shielding Risa with his body. But she could see the dark-haired vampire who'd approached them from over her soulmate's shoulder.

"How did you find us?" Carden asked. His voice had a frightening edge to it.

"I followed you," the vampire replied. "It wasn't hard either. A guy in your position should really watch his back more carefully."

"I'll keep that in mind after I kill you."

"I don't think it needs to come to that," the vampire said, walking towards them.

"Take one more step and I'll have your head."

"Hey!" Risa shouted from behind Carden. "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on? Who's the Orlando Bloom wannabe?"

The vampire smiled. "Ian McCafferty," he replied. "The Daybreak assassin."

* * *

Hollis crossed her legs again. Her body was getting stiff from sitting in front of the computer, no matter how many different positions she contorted herself into. She looked at the clock and sighed. 

It had only been an hour since Ian left. Not a long time at all, especially if you factor in the time it took to drive to the Hudson Hotel. There was nothing wrong. He was perfectly fine.

Well, Hollis was a perfect mess. Her endless rationalizations and reassurances did nothing to quell the anxiety that was turning her stomach. Why could the brain never help calm the heart? Well, it wasn't really her heart. It was just another part of her brain that was making her uneasy. Just electrical pulses and neurotransmitters. Just epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol—hormones meant to keep her alive in times of danger. But they were killing her now. Why hadn't evolution caught on to this yet?

She was losing it. Even her thoughts were pointless rambles. She needed to work some more and keep her mind occupied.

Hollis began to scan the police reports, looking for anything that sounded like Risa Sinclair's work. They could never have too much evidence, especially since Hollis's eyewitness account might be faulty.

Less than a minute passed before she checked the time again.

Come on! There was nothing to worry about. Ian was trained.

Reading through the police reports, she saw that five guys were arrested in a drug bust. Not was she was looking for…

But when Ian got back, she would have to face him. Again. She'd seen the expression on his face when he asked that horrible question, _"Why can't you trust me?"_ It looked like he'd just had an epiphany. Hollis knew that he wasn't going to let it go.

Domestic disturbance. No…

And the disturbing thing was that she still wouldn't have an answer for him. She _did_ trust him. She just…didn't believe him. That wasn't the same thing. It wasn't.

Because, well, why would he still want her? He'd already gotten one night out of her and of course he wouldn't regret it, as she did. He didn't have as much to lose. Men could sleep around, screw their partners, and no one thought any less of them. That wasn't true for women. So, it only made sense that she considered last night a mistake. Of course she thought that she was a huge idiot. Nice, smart girls didn't do things like that. It was the hand she was dealt, it was the role she'd been given.

Arson…

"_Maybe this is you, princess. Maybe the rest is just a façade…you need to learn to respect yourself, whoever that really is."_ Those were the words that were haunting her. She heard him whispering them over and over again.

Assault…

She'd been wanton and bawdy and it had been terrifying and humiliating because it wasn't who she was supposed to be.

Robbery…

But who decided that? Why was she supposed to be anything in particular? And why was she ashamed?

Suddenly her thoughts came to a screeching halt. Hollis leaned closer to the computer screen.

The bodies of a thirteen year-old girl and a nine year-old girl were found on the second floor of an abandoned townhouse. The causes of death had not yet been determined. They were killed approximately five days ago, but were found just yesterday after police responded to a call about a trespasser on the property. A witness described the trespasser as a white female between 15-19 years of age, 5' 10", slender build, waist-length brown hair.

Heart pounding, Hollis saw the address of the townhouse and knew that it was fairly close to the hotel, to Risa's apartment. This was their girl.

She grabbed her cell phone and fumbled with the keys as she sent Ian a text message, telling him to call as soon as possible. Then she got to work on the details. She printed out directions to the townhouse as well as a satellite map. The house had been repossessed two years ago and had been empty ever since. There was no telling how many squatters may have broken in during that time.

Were the girls squatters? Was the killer? What did Risa Sinclair have to do with it? Hollis knew that the subject had killed countless people, but she'd never thought that Sinclair would murder two young girls. It just didn't fit the profile.

She glanced at the clock again. Why hadn't Ian checked in yet? She really wanted to talk to him about this.

Hollis stood up and stretched out her cramped legs. She was sick of being stuck in this hotel room with her own crazy thoughts. Grabbing the map and directions, she decided to take a walk by the property and just take a look at it while she waited for Ian to get back. Maybe she'd find another lead.


	10. Quid Pro Quo

_Thanks so much everyone for the reviews. I'm actually really looking forward to finishing this story so I can work more on the real sequel to Haunted -- following up on Reece, Lex, and Aiden. I miss my girl and her two sexy guys. :)_

_I stole an idea from Moreta and searched around for pictures of celebrities who resemble my characters.. check it out on my webpage, if you like. - Hehe, I'm glad you like Carden so much. He was definitely a favorite of mine. It's fun to dream of cursing and being as rude as he is._

_CalliopeMused - Yeah.. Hollis might be doing something stupid. But who knows how it'll turn out. Okay, I know, but the rest of you don't! _

_syrai - Thank you for all the lovely compliments. :)_

_Incarnated-Soul - Again, yeah, Hollis is full of bad ideas sometimes. But it's daylight. What could happen to her? Yay, I'm glad you find the story funny. I try to bring in my sarcasm. I don't know where the car thing came from.. I needed a place for Carden to land safely and thought.. hey, why not make it ruin Ian's day? And oh yes, angst is very good. I wouldn't be writing without it. :)_

* * *

They almost looked normal, seated in the back of a crowded Starbucks as they quietly sipped their overpriced coffee. The signs of tension were subtle. Their eyes darted from one another to the other people in the shop quickly and constantly, always watching for a new threat, always looking for new exits. The silence among them was heavy with their apprehension and reluctance to be the first to speak, to relinquish information. They knew all too well that the value of their knowledge could be the only defense they had against one another.

"Would someone please talk, already?" Risa said. "This is getting ridiculous."

Carden watched his soulmate in his peripheral vision. She looked relaxed, leaning back in the overstuffed armchair, but he could feel the strain of her anxiety through the link. He tried to push some calming energy to her, but she only glared at him. _Mind your own business_, her mental voice snapped. _Stay out of my head._

_I'm afraid it's not up to me, sweetheart,_ he told her.

But the majority of Carden's attention was trained on Ian McCafferty. The assassin wasn't exactly what he'd been anticipating. Carden had expected his old rival to be more like himself—loud and obnoxious and egotistical. But McCafferty was quiet in a thoughtful way that made him even more dangerous. Carden had no idea what the Daybreaker was thinking as Ian watched him and Risa with interest, but with no outwardly sign of aggression. He couldn't help but think that the assassin could strike at any moment with deadly precision, like a snake.

"You asked for this meeting," he said to Ian. "So talk."

The Daybreaker smiled slightly, as if he were amused by the direct order. "How much do you already know about the assignment?"

Carden answered. The less his soulmate said, the better. "You were sent here to observe and destroy Risa because the Night World found out about her hunting habits and she's inspired some copycats. It's starting to draw attention to the Night World and is causing more rifts between humans and Night People, which is giving Daybreak a headache. You're not sure if Risa knows about it or if she's openly working with the Night World, and you're not sure if you care. The only thing you do know is that you need a solution. Fast."

Ian nodded. "Very good. A little too good, actually, but I won't ask how you got that information."

"There's no way in hell that I'd ever give up my source, you son of a bitch," Carden growled.

"I just said that I wouldn't ask." The Daybreaker turned to Risa. "Does he always have this much trouble listening?"

"Yes," Risa replied just as Carden answered, "No."

"I see," Ian laughed. "That soulmate link doesn't help your communication much, does it?"

"How did you know about that?" Carden asked.

"My partner and I deduced that you two knew each other before you left the city eight years ago. And sitting here with you now…well, the connection is obvious."

Risa rolled her eyes. "You could've fooled me."

"Okay, whatever," Carden snapped. The last thing he wanted was for Ian to know the details of his relationship with his soulmate. The guy knew too much already. "What do you want, McCafferty? You were assigned to kill her. So why aren't you doing it?"

"You know about the new policies, right? Daybreak implemented them last year."

"The assassin has to be part of the investigation team."

"Right. To make sure that he understands the weight of his decision."

"He or she," Risa butted in. Both Ian and Carden stared at her. "You do have female assassins, don't you?"

"Not at the moment, actually," Ian replied.

"Why not?"

"Take it up with the ACLU later, Risa," Carden said dryly. "Let him finish."

She glared at him. "Go to hell."

"In any event," the Daybreaker continued, "the new policy dictates that I have the last word. My partner and I have been watching you, Risa, for nearly two weeks. We know that you've killed a lot of people, taken justice into your own hands. But I didn't see any evidence that you were in contact with the Night World or that you knew about the copycats."

"Carden told me last night," she said softly.

"You didn't know before that?"

"No. I've been on my own for eight years." Risa glanced at Carden significantly and he just hoped that McCafferty didn't notice. "I don't really know much about the Night World news or laws. I only paid attention to my own work."

"What was your work, exactly?"

"I thought you knew all of this."

Ian shrugged. "I want to hear it in your own words."

"I killed people who preyed on others, who hurt others. Sometimes I baited them. Sometimes I stopped them in the middle of a crime. Sometimes I was able to pull what they'd done from their thoughts. I killed them all, regardless, because they deserved to die."

"Risa—" Carden started, trying to shut her up before she said something stupid.

"No," she snapped. "He wanted to hear the truth from me, so I gave it to him."

"They all deserved to die," Ian repeated casually, but Carden knew what the Daybreaker was getting at.

So did Risa. "I thought so at the time. But I found out last night that I made some mistakes…killed innocent people." She looked down at her lap, her shame painfully palpable.

"She had no idea, McCafferty," Carden insisted. The Daybreaker had to believe that. He had to see that Risa wasn't the monster she might appear to be on paper.

Ian nodded again, as if this was what he'd been expecting. "And what will you do now that you know all of this?" he asked Risa.

Carden held his breath. He knew that this was the pivotal question. This was why Ian had asked to talk to them. Risa's life depended on her answer and whether or not the Daybreaker believed her.

She looked up at Ian fearlessly. "I'm ready to die for what I've done," she said with unfailing dignity.

The assassin stared at her, his gaze searching. He seemed to be trying to sense deceit or bravado in her words. "Alright," he said slowly. "But what would you do if I let you live?"

Risa's expression contorted in horror and it made something in Carden's gut twist. "Don't keep the man waiting, sweetheart," he sneered. "Give him an answer."

His soulmate looked at him, pleading. "You don't understand…"

"Oh, I understand. You want to die because you're too weak to live with what you've done or to try to make amends for it."

"How can I possibly make up for killing those people?" she asked desperately. "You think if I do enough community service, their families will pat me on the shoulder and tell me that it's fine that I killed their husband or father or brother or sister or whomever?"

"Don't be stupid. But dying won't make it right, either. No, you'd never get their blessing and maybe you'd never get their forgiveness, but that doesn't mean that you should stop working for it. I gave you forever, Risa. That's a damn long time. Maybe one day, at least, you might be able to forgive yourself."

"Why don't you just hold your breath until that day comes?" she suggested. But her voice lacked the biting, sarcastic edge that it should have had. Carden wished that Ian was gone now, so that he could touch his soulmate, search her mind to see if he'd finally gotten through to her.

"Risa," Ian interjected, "I think that Carden is right."

"No, not you too," she breathed, covering her face with her hands.

"Your skills could be—" the Daybreaker was cut off by a series of beeps. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "Sorry, it's a text message from my partner. Just give me one second."

Ian frowned as he read the message.

"What is it?" Carden asked. "If it's about Risa, we deserve to know what's going on. Tit for tat and all."

McCafferty looked up at Risa coldly. "Were you involved in the murder of two girls in a townhouse near your apartment?" he asked her pointblank.

"What?" she said incredulously. "Jesus, you Daybreakers are good. I didn't think anyone even saw me there."

"Is that a yes?"

"No. I _found_ the bodies yesterday morning. They were mostly rotted by that time. A wolf shifter did it, I think. He was in the house and he attacked me. I barely got out of there in one piece."

"That's why you were covered in blood when I found you?" Carden asked. "It was your blood."

She turned her gaze back to him. "Yes. And I was going to go back there to kill the wolf before I went to the hotel to turn myself in to Ian."

"Really. Why not just let the shifter kill you and save Circle Daybreak the trouble?" he suggested acidly.

"I promised those girls that I would get justice for them."

Carden sighed. "You always do."

"Not like this," Risa insisted.

"No?"

"They were already dead. He left them there to rot, Carden. They were barely more than puddles of flesh on the floor, but I could tell how much he enjoyed tearing them up." Her eyes filled with tears as her voice became unsteady. "And the older girl had her arm over her sister, trying to protect her when the wolf attacked, but it didn't help. There was nothing either of them could do. He destroyed them and then he left them there like garbage!"

"How do you know they were sisters?" Ian asked, oblivious to how close Risa was to hysterics.

She looked at him blankly. "I…don't…"

_Oh, Goddess_. Everything always came back to this. For Risa, it all came down to her father's death and how terrified she'd been that she would never be able to take care of Cori or keep her safe. He could see flashes of the dream she'd been plagued by for years. He remembered how she used to wake up screaming her sister's name. But Carden realized that seeing those dead girls had distorted the dream. For whatever reason, her mind had confused the girls with herself and Cori. Risa seemed to take their deaths as evidence of her failure.

Fucked up, as always, but there it was.

Suddenly, he didn't care of Ian was watching. Carden got down on his knees before his soulmate and took her hands in his.

_It wasn't Cori that died,_ he said. _Your sister is alive and you're alive. You can't take responsibility for everything, sweetheart. You can't control everything. It's killing you. It's killing me. Don't you see that?_

Her gorgeous eyes met his. _What do I do, then? Tell me what to do._

"She's not answering," Ian suddenly said, startling Carden. The Daybreaker was staring at his cell phone mutinously. "Damn it. She sent that text message over two hours ago and I only just got it."

"Your partner?" Risa asked.

"Yes," he replied, dialing the number again. Then again. Carden watched as Ian's calm persona crumbled. The Daybreaker impatiently ran his fingers through his hair and got out of his chair. "This isn't like her. I've got to get back to the hotel."

Ian hastily strode through the door with Risa and Carden following close behind him. But as soon as they were back on the sidewalk, he froze. "Damn it," he hissed.

"What's wrong?" Carden asked.

"You destroyed my rental car," the vampire snapped.

"What? When?"

"When you landed on it."

"Oh." Carden bit his lip, trying not to laugh. He remembered that he'd been glad to put that godawful car out of its misery. "Sorry about that. But, really, I think I did it a favor."

"It's not funny," Ian said seriously. "I need to get back to check on Hollis. I've got a bad feeling about it."

He sobered quickly. "Look, we can take the subway. It'll be faster anyways."

"We?"

Carden's eyes met Risa's and she nodded at his unspoken question. "Yeah," he said to Ian. "You said you had a bad feeling. You might need backup."

"What's in it for you?"

"The opportunity to be in your glorious presence a few hours longer."

The Daybreaker wasn't amused. "And?"

"You helped us, so we'll help you. Then we'll be even."

Ian smiled grimly. "Fine. Let's move, then."

* * *

The subway ride seemed long as they headed towards the outskirts of the city. Carden was sitting next to her, his hand resting on her leg just above the knee. It was warm and comforting, so Risa automatically resented it. But she couldn't bring herself to push his hand away. 

She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this confused. For so long everything had been simple. Wake up, hunt and kill, sleep. Sometimes she'd felt exhilarated and other times she'd been was close to despair, but right now she felt both at the same time. Part of her wanted to pull her hair out, another part wanted to fall into Carden's arms. She wanted to die and she wanted to live and both of those desires made her feel guilty for different reasons.

_You can't take responsibility for everything, sweetheart_, he had said. _It's killing you. It's killing me. Don't you see that?_

Risa couldn't help but notice his use of the present tense. Did he really still care that much?

He squeezed her knee, as if responding to her question, but she didn't know if he'd actually heard her. She didn't dare to hope that he still cared about her. He could be gone by the end of the day, just as soon as they were done helping Ian, and it might be another eight years before he contacted her again. Risa could barely stand the thought, but she had to brace herself for it. She had to be prepared.

What would she do after this was over? Her entire existence had effectively been destroyed. She couldn't hunt any more—she didn't want to be part of the war between the Night World and Circle Daybreak and she couldn't risk killing another innocent person. So where did that leave her? If she decided to live, what could she do to start making up for the damage that she'd done?

It was all too overwhelming and it made her head throb.

Carden reached up and guided her head down to his shoulder.

So he had been listening after all.

She waited for him to say something, but he stayed quiet. In the end, Risa was grateful for it. She didn't want promises or propositions or solutions thrown at her right now and Carden had somehow known that even before she had. God, this soulmate link was strange sometimes.

Risa stared ahead at Ian, who was sitting across from them, anxiously glancing out the window. She wondered if his partner, Hollis, was his soulmate. Probably not. If she were, then Ian would know for sure that something had happened to her. He would be able to track her better.

Still, he did seem really worried. Maybe he was just in love with Hollis. Risa smiled at that thought. The soulmate principle could make things so much harder and more complicated than they should be. It was nice to think of Ian's love being something simple and pure.

She would never know. Risa had only ever been in love with Carden and regardless of what happened after this, she knew that there would never be anyone else for her.

The subway pulled up to their stop and Risa reluctantly got up. Ian was already at the door, impatiently waiting for it to open. He had been so cool back at the coffee shop that it actually unnerved her a little to see him like this. It reminded her of the time that she'd seen her father cry, when she'd been very young. Adults were not supposed to cry, were not supposed to be scared.

Ian began to run as soon as the door opened. Risa hurried to catch up with him. Her ankle had started to heal in the coffee shop, but it was still fragile as she limped after him.

Suddenly she felt arms scoop her up from behind. "Need a lift, sweetheart?" Carden asked.

Risa struggled indignantly. "Put me down!"

"Afraid not. You're hurt."

"You can't carry me and keep up with Ian. I'm too heavy."

Carden snorted. "Don't underestimate my strength or stamina again," he replied. "Just let me do this."

Risa looked into his eyes and realized how much he wanted her to let him help her. For once. "Fine. But you are not carrying me like I'm Sleeping Beauty or something. I'm getting on your back."

"Suit yourself," he said. Carden stopped briefly and allowed Risa to hop on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his torso. Then he sprinted to reach Ian again.

"Should we hail a cab?" Carden asked him when they hit the street. "Would that get us there faster?"

"No," Ian said, not even winded yet. "It'll be faster to stay on foot. At least for me. I don't have a passenger."

Carden laughed. "Yeah, I know you're jealous."

"Turn left at the end of this block," the Daybreaker instructed.

They ran at a grueling pace and the miles between the subway stop and Ian's hotel were a bumpy blur to Risa as she clung to Carden's back. She saw several people stare in amazement as they flew by and she wondered how they rationalized such a feat to themselves. She wondered if humans would ever be unafraid of them, if they knew the truth.

Would Cori ever be unafraid?

Ian led them through the hotel lobby and up three flights of stairs. When they reached the door to his room, the Daybreaker fumbled with his key card before finally unlocking it. He burst inside and called out his partner's name.

Carden set Risa on her feet and leaned against the wall, breathing hard. For all his talk, carrying her while running that fast had exhausted him.

"She's not here!" Ian exclaimed after he'd checked his room and the room next door. "Where the hell would she have gone? Why didn't she leave a note?"

Risa watched, feeling helpless, as Ian stormed over to the desk and went through the papers that were neatly stacked next to a laptop. Carden went over to the computer and opened the internet browser, searching for some clue there.

"The last pages she went to were about the townhouse where those girls were found," he said. "She got directions and a satellite photo of it."

"No, she wouldn't have gone," Ian whispered. "We just had a huge fight the night she went after Risa on her own. She's not trained to be in the field."

"Is her coat here?" Carden asked him. "Her shoes?"

Ian checked the two rooms again. "No. Neither is her cell phone. Damn it!"

"She may not have gone there," Risa spoke up. "But we have no other lead right now. We should check it out."

"Uh, uh. Ian and I will go. You're staying here, sweetheart," Carden said.

"The hell I am!" she cried. "That shifter was mine to begin with. I'm going after him."

"You're hurt," he argued.

"It's almost healed. I'll be fine."

"Risa, try to hear me. You. Are. Not. Going."

"Carden, I can take care of myself. You changed me specifically so that I _could_ take care of myself."

"That is not what I meant."

"I know. It's just…I need to be there. This is the last time and I swore to those girls…" Risa trailed off. She didn't have the words to explain it to him. She thought that she would be able to quit hunting. The damage she'd wrought was just too great. And she was starting to think that she might be able to bear the weight of her guilt, as long as she had _something_ good to throw her energy into. But she had already made a promise to the girls and she couldn't walk away without fulfilling it. She just couldn't.

She waited for another tirade from Carden, but her soulmate just sighed. He was unhappy, but she could feel his resignation through the link. He seemed to understand, for once, why she had to do this. And for the first time, it seemed like he accepted it. "Fine. But promise me that, if anything happens, you'll keep yourself safe." _Because if you love someone, you have a responsibility to stay alive and well for them_, he added to her telepathically. _Remember?_

Risa nodded and gave him a tentative smile. "I will," she said softly, "as long as you promise me the same."

He returned her smile. "I promise."

Carden turned back to Ian. "Okay, McCafferty," he said. "Do you have any weapons?"

Ian pulled a large bag out from underneath the bed. Unzipping it, he revealed a large pile of guns, ammunition, stakes, and knifes. "This enough for you?"

Risa took out a silver butterfly knife, fluidly opening it and closing it with one hand. "It'll do."


	11. Onslaught

_I owe a huge amount of thanks to these wonderful people who constantly tell me how much they like this story. You guys make my day.. you have no idea. And again, if you'd like to check out the pictures of characters, head to my homepage._ :)

_incarnated-soul: Heh, I never get tired of the compliments, especially when I start thinking my work is utter crap. I'm glad you like the pace.. it has actually been a lot faster than I'd anticipated.. so yeah, this will probably be much shorter than Haunted. Who doesn't love Ian? He's nice and gorgeous. Mm._

_Darklight Shadow: Much thanks, as always!_

_CalliopeMused:Awww.. I'm really happy the story made your day better. Wow, that much have been a _really _bad day, then. Yeah, I wish I had Carden's nerve too. Alas, I ammore of a Hollis, myself._

_Daugain: Yeah, Ian and Hollis are definitely complicated. But like it or not, they're going to end up together. Or will they? Let's read on!_

* * *

They didn't run as fast this time. They needed to conserve their energy to deal with whatever they might find in the townhouse. Carden was privately thankful for it. He was still tired from keeping up with Ian with Risa's weight on his back.

His soulmate was just in front of him, and Ian McCafferty was ahead of her, leading this haphazard search and rescue mission. Risa's ankle was strong enough now to support her as they jogged down the street, single-file. McCafferty had made her drink a blood bag before they'd left the hotel and that had helped her bone to finish healing. Still, Carden thought that she shouldn't have come with them, but he knew that his reasons for that were mostly irrational.

Oh yeah. He was fucked. He wasn't going to leave her to go back to LA. It had been insane to think that he could.

For the past eight years, he felt like an actor playing the role of Jonas Carden. He delivered his lines on cue and stole as many scenes as possible, just for the fun of it. And over the years, he got used to the feeling. As long as he had an audience, it was easy to pretend that he was all right.

But now, with Risa back in his life, Carden realized just how disconnected he'd been. He couldn't go back to that. He didn't even know how he'd done it in the first place. But then, he hadn't seen any other choice.

The memory still hurt like a sonofabitch. Risa had said that she hated him. Actually, she'd screamed it. Over and over again. She'd thrown things at him, clumsy with her new preternatural strength.

Dodging her blows, Carden had tried to explain why he'd done it. He'd tried to tell her that he loved her and needed her. He'd only wanted to protect her from her own self-destruction.

She hadn't listened. Carden saw now that she hadn't been _able_ to listen. Risa had been out of her mind that night. He shouldn't have believed her when she said that she hated him, that she never wanted to see him again. He should have stayed. Instead, he left her to deal with the aftermath of the change by herself.

He'd been a jackass, plain and simple.

Well, that was nothing new. But he was going to try to be less of one this time around.

Whether she'd ever admit it or not, Risa was going to need him to get through the next few months. Her life as she knew it had once again been destroyed. She had decisions to make, new priorities to set, and Carden was damn well going to be there to help her.

And Christ, his life was in shambles too. He'd been fired from Circle Daybreak and hadn't seriously thought about what he was going to do next. So he had his own decisions to make, and he wanted Risa to be there to help him.

Hell, he just wanted Risa.

_Keep the lovey-dovey crap to a minimum, Carden_, his soulmate teased him. She'd been listening to his thoughts. _You should be concentrating on the situation at hand. I don't want you losing a limb because your head was in the clouds. _

Carden grinned. The banter came as easily to them now as it always had. It was a sign of affection and respect. How had he ever lived without this?

_I'm always concentrating on the mission, sweetheart_, he replied.

_Oh really? What about the time that Night World shifter broke into your own apartment and nearly killed you because you couldn't tear your eyes away from that Bond video game?_

_For the thousandth time, that was a shooting game. I was _training

He could feel the laughter she was trying to hold back. _Right. Of course. _

_That's it. As soon as this is done, I'm going to demonstrate for you just how relentless my concentration can be,_ he purred Carden let her see all of the erotic images that were flashing through his mind.

Up ahead, Ian slowed down. "This is it," he said.

The three of them stopped and stared at the row of dilapidated houses across the street. Broken glass littered the sidewalk. Pieces of trash were strewn in the dead grass in front of each house. Graffiti was everywhere, covering the buildings so well that it was hard to tell what color they had originally been. All around him, Carden smelled decay and destitution. "Lovely neighborhood," he murmured.

"It probably was nice once," Risa said. "Maybe sixty years ago."

The townhouse where the bodies had been found had police tape crisscrossed over the open doorway. All of the other entrances were blocked off with plywood. The cops probably had to knock the board out of the front door to get to the bodies. They really should have secured the building better afterwards, though.

"How do you want to do this, McCafferty?" Carden asked the Daybreaker.

"Let's split up," Ian replied. He pulled out the drawing that Risa had made of the townhouse's layout. "I'll go through the front door. Risa, go in through this window here, where you entered yesterday. And Carden, you go in through the back door that leads into the kitchen. We'll meet in front of the stairs and, if everything on the first floor is all clear, we'll go up together."

"What about the basement?" Carden asked. "That's where Risa left the wolf. It could still be down there. We don't want to get jumped from behind."

"There's a giant hole in the living room floor," Risa reminded him. "I should be able to see most of the basement from there."

"Right," Ian agreed. "I don't think any of us should go down there until we know the rest of the house is clear. There's only one way out of there."

"Okay," Risa said. "Let's go."

They walked across the street together. Ian left the group first, heading wordlessly towards the front doorway. Carden grabbed his soulmate's arm before she started for the side of the house.

"Risa…" His words failed him, so he drew her into his arms. He hadn't kissed her before this because he'd wanted to wait for her, until she gave some sign that she wanted him. But Carden couldn't hold off any longer. He pressed his lips to hers recklessly and he was surprised to feel her arms slip around his neck.

So much time wasted. How could they have been so stupid, so thoughtlessly proud?

It didn't matter now. Risa was in his arms. She was kissing him back.

"I love you," he whispered. "I never stopped."

When Carden pulled back, Risa was frowning. "This isn't goodbye," she said. "If you don't come out of there alive, I'm going to kill you."

He laughed. "Understood."

She reluctantly stepped away and he watched her disappear around the corner of the house. For a split second, Carden saw her as she'd been when he'd found her the day before. Drenched in her own blood. Passed out with empty blood bags all around her. He couldn't let that happen again. He was going to kill this damn wolf himself, and he was going to make it hurt.

The backyard of the townhouse was just as depressing as the front. The grass was dry and patchy and the bent, rusted remains of a swing set gave Carden the creeps. Once upon a time, there had probably been a screen door at the back of the house which helped keep the kitchen cool in the summer. But now the doorway was boarded up, like everything else.

_Everyone in position?_ Ian asked them telepathically.

_Yes_, Risa responded.

_Yup_, Carden replied. _But it's going to take one hell of a kick to knock down the board back here. Whatever is in there is going to hear it._

He felt the Daybreaker's determination behind his mental voice. _We'd better do this fast, then._

* * *

Ian was shaking. He hadn't been this edgy or nervous since his first Daybreak assignment. That day, he'd up on a rooftop, his fingers slick with cold sweat as he aimed his sniper rifle at the target, a powerful and maniacal vampire. When he'd finally gotten the signal to fire, Ian's finger had slipped on the trigger and the slight motion had been enough to shift his aim so that his bullet missed the target. The vampire had dove for cover and his bodyguards had surrounded him, ruining the chances for another good shot. Ian had blown the entire assignment.

Luckily for him, the job had been a set-up. Daybreak had wanted to test him in the field. After that failure, Ian had gone back into training for another six months before he got second chance. By that time, he'd learned to stay calm and composed.

Unfortunately, he was neither of those things right now. No, he was a wreck. He was anxious to enter the townhouse, but also afraid that he'd find Hollis lying dead on the floor. Or she might not be there at all. Both scenarios filled him with dread. If she wasn't in this house, he didn't know where else to look. What if he never found her?

Ian tried to breathe. He had to calm down.

No, it was unthinkable that he would never find her. He _had_ to see her again. He'd left things so badly with her and he wanted to make them right.

Had he even told her how much their night together meant to him? He didn't think so. No, he'd been too busy being offended that it hadn't meant anything to her.

The truth was that Ian had never been with someone he worked with. For that matter, he'd never been with anyone who knew about the Night World or Daybreak or what he was. Maybe that was why the night with Hollis had been so powerful. She was the first person that he'd ever slept with who really knew him.

And it was probably just his ego talking, but he thought that he might be the first person who really knew her. Hollis was so good at playing the role of the nice, intelligent, and courteous "girl next door." But Ian knew that there was so much more underneath all of that crap.

He had to find her and tell her all of this.

Then he'd throttle her for scaring the hell out of him.

Then he'd never let her out of his sight again.

Goddess help him. Amazing as it was with Hollis, this was a prime example of why it was a bad idea to get involved with a coworker in Circle Daybreak. If Ian was in a relationship with some normal girl, then she would be home right now. Maybe looking forward to his return, or maybe not. But at least she would be _safe_. Daybreakers were always in danger and right now Ian was proving that it was impossible to stay calm and in control when someone you cared about was in trouble.

His mind was racing, fearful and careless. If he really wanted to help Hollis, he should stand aside and let someone objective take over. But he couldn't do it. He was too far gone.

But Ian was grateful for the support had—an ex-Daybreak assassin and an ex-Daybreak target. He smiled wryly. You just couldn't make something like that up. At least he knew that Carden and Risa could hold their own.

After a small eternity, his team was finally in position. _Now_, Ian told them.

The next instant, there was a loud noise from the back of the house as Carden broke through the boards covering the back door. Ian ducked under the yellow police tape that was strung across the front doorway and entered the townhouse. He didn't hear a sound from Risa Sinclair, but he could feel her presence nearby.

They were in.

The inside of the house was dark and musty. Apart from the sunlight streaming through the open door and the window Risa had come through, the rooms were pitch-black. Throughout most of the house it would be too dark for a human's eyes. Hollis would have had to feel around the walls to get anywhere.

Ian leaned down to examine the footprints in the layer of dust covering the hardwood floor. Most of them were probably from the NYPD, when they had retrieved the bodies. But there were large paw prints in the dust as well. Far too large to have come from a dog.

Trying to stay silent, Ian searched the front hall. Then he moved into the living room and saw Risa crouching by the side of hole on the floor as she looked down into the basement.

_I don't see anything down there_, she said to him. _For whatever it's worth._

Ian just nodded. The basement would be last. He didn't want anyone to get trapped down there. The rest of the house, at least, had windows to jump through.

He went back into the hall while Risa finished looking over the living room.

With his next breath, his heart started to beat erratically. The peach scent of Hollis's shampoo hung in the thick, stifling air.

She'd been here only a little while ago. She could still be here.

Lifting his eyes to the stairway, a crushing pressure settled on Ian's chest. It was the weight of grief, he realized. He was suddenly sure that he would go up there and find Hollis in the same state that Risa had found the young girls.

No, he had to snap out of it. He didn't know for sure that Hollis was dead. They hadn't searched the entire house. She might not be up there. She could have come in the house and then left.

Carden came into the hall from the dining room and Risa entered from the living room. They both shook their heads. They hadn't found anything. No sign of Hollis or the wolf.

Ian swallowed. They had to bring the search upstairs.

* * *

She woke up and winced. A sliver of white sunlight sliced across her eyes, painfully bright. She tried to lift her arm to block her face, but it was too heavy. With considerable effort, she turned her head away from the light and closed her eyes.

The air felt cool against her skin. The sensation of the infinitesimal breeze sweeping over her face was suddenly distracting. It wasn't a breeze, really. It was just the perpetual flow of air currents—the molecules moving from areas of high pressure to low, from warmer temperatures to cooler. The energy of the universe eternally waning in an endless effort to achieve balance.

With quiet fascination, she realized that she could sense the swirls, the constant churn of which she was unwittingly an intricate part. Her breath propelled the air over her mouth away as more flooded towards her parted lips to replace it.

She could hear it. She could _feel_ it. And the rhythm was hypnotic.

Like the rotation of the planet…

Like the oscillation of the tides…

Like the beat of her heart…

Had her pulse ever been this slow or steady before? The force of it sent a slight vibration through her limbs—a tremor that was barely perceptible, but impossible to ignore now that she was aware of it.

There was so much to notice, so many details that she had never bothered to appreciate. How could she have been so oblivious? So dense?

But…who was she?

No, that was a ridiculous question. She was…she was…

Panic catapulted her pulse and her body shook from the rapid beat of her heart.

Calm down, calm down. Everything would be okay. There was nothing to be afraid of. This wasn't terribly unusual, she was certain. There had to have been times in the past when she'd been floating in the space between dreams and reality and she hadn't known who she was. All she needed to do now was wake up and everything would be all right.

She opened her eyes again. The room was dark, but the splinter of sunlight helped her see that she was facing a wall covered with yellowing wallpaper, which was spattered with blue flowers. It was old and dirty and completely unfamiliar.

Was she all right? She took a moment to wiggle her fingers and toes. She could move everything and there was no pain. But her body still felt curiously heavy.

Her gaze traveled downwards. She was lying on a rug of soft fur and her breath blew the brown hairs away and then sucked them back towards her again in that amazing, captivating rhythm. There was a blanket on top of her, keeping her warm even though she knew the air was cold.

She was alone. Somehow, she knew that much for certain. Maybe that should have made her anxious, but for some reason, she felt less afraid. Because there had been someone here before, hadn't there? But…before what?

Okay, she was definitely awake now, so why couldn't she remember anything? She still didn't know where she was or how she'd gotten there or why was she so weak.

It was strange, but she had the sense that this feeling was the most terrifying and maddening thing she could possibly experience. Innately, she knew that she hated feeling weak. She worked hard to prove that she was strong and capable, and now she was lying helpless on the floor. She almost laughed at that. Her pride was wounded and she didn't even know who she was.

The panic rising again, she tried to will her memories into focus. There were tiny snippets fluttering just beyond her reach. Colors, words, blurred faces. Names. But every time she tried to capture one and clear away the fog, it slipped from her grasp. After a while, she wanted to cry with frustration.

Her only option was to wait until her memory returned or until she felt strong enough to leave here. But her instincts told her that she couldn't stay here much longer. She was in danger.

But could she even trust her instincts? Maybe that would only get her into more trouble. How would she know?

The questions spun and multiplied in her mind, overcoming logic and reason, driving her mad. The "what ifs" raged and the "whys" screamed. Her body limp, she felt like a prisoner trapped inside of her own, useless mind.

But on one of the currents of air, she caught a strange scent and her thoughts died. Her mind fell silent.

She wrinkled her nose and breathed it in, trying to discern what it was. It smelled warm and delicious, but she didn't think that it was food—at least not one she'd ever had before.

Even though she couldn't identify it, the scent still made her mouth water. Her stomach didn't growl, but she felt horribly empty. She realized that she was starving. _Famished_. Well, that probably explained her weakness, her dizziness.

With the distant sound of voices, the scent grew stronger. Someone was coming. More than one person. And they had food. She had to get some of it. She _needed_ it. It must have been days since she'd last eaten.

The voices were louder now and they sounded like they were coming from below her, but still a ways away. The floor vibrated with the delicate sound waves they made and she felt it even through the thick, soft rug. Wherever she was, she wasn't on the ground floor. That wasn't much to go on, but it was one of the few things she'd manage to deduce since she woke up, so she clung to that small bit of knowledge.

There was a loud bang underneath her and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Did these people mean her harm?

An eerie hush fell, but she was sure that the people were closer now. But they were so quiet that she couldn't hear them no matter how hard she strained her ears. The silence rang louder and louder.

As the scent grew stronger still, she forgot what she'd been listening for. She could only concentrate on the food, delicious food. Everything would be all right as soon as she ate. Everything would be clear then and she would remember who she was. She just needed to eat.

The smell swirled around her. The air was saturated with it, so thick that she could almost taste it. It was everywhere. Like steak, but not quite. Better. There had never been a food that smelled this good. And it was a meat. She was sure of that now. The scent sparked nebulous wisps of memory of Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas breakfasts, peace and contentedness.

God, she needed it. It was the only thing that would help her now. She would die without it.

Desperation gave her the strength to roll over on all fours. She was so tired and her body was so heavy, but she was burning for that food. Crawling towards it, inch by inch, she imagined sinking her teeth into it, ripping the mouth-watering meat to pieces. Peace and contentedness. God, god.

She heard a soft snarl and realized that she had made the noise. Wasn't that an odd thing for her to do? Maybe. Damn it, she didn't care now. Think about it later.

The hardwood floor was slippery underneath her hands and feet as she crawled through a doorway. She couldn't seem to get enough traction to move as fast as she wanted.

Faster, faster.

Her nails were digging into the floor. But when she looked down, she saw that they weren't nails. They were claws…

The smell was overwhelming now.

…and her hands were covered in brown fur. She hadn't been lying on a rug at all. She _was_ the rug.

The horror fled as quickly as it came. She just couldn't hold onto it. The scent was coming from just around the corner, just down the set of stairs to her left.

She couldn't wait any more. She had to eat now.

Now, now, _now!_

In a frenzy, she launched herself down the stairs towards the source of the smell. Colliding with it violently, she knocked it over and slid down the remaining steps on top of it. Another snarl escaped her just before she sank her teeth into the savory raw flesh that was pinned under her.

Distantly she heard a voice cry out, "Ian!"

The name meant something to her, but she couldn't focus on it.

Eat now.

Think about it later.


	12. Hysteria

_Yay, this part is finally done. I had a lot of trouble writing it, so please, please let me know if it sucks. _

_Again, thank you to my very faithful reviewers wolfseye1, syrai, CalliopeMused, incarnated-soul, Daugain, and Kalika Scott (heh, how'd you see it coming? I didn't even see it coming.). I'm glad you loved/hated the cliff-hanger. There was much snickering by me when I read the reviews. But you guys are great! And I'm not just saying that because you always say nice things about my story. :)_

* * *

Ian barely heard Risa Sinclair shout his name. The pain in his shoulder seemed to take over all of his senses. There was a piercing roar in his ears, spots dancing in front of his eyes, the coppery taste of blood in his mouth and the scent of it was overpowering.

The wolf chomped down again and tugged, trying to bite off Ian's entire arm. That didn't seem quite right. Shapeshifters usually went right for the heart—the organ they needed to consume in order to live. But the one on top of him didn't seem to know what it wanted.

It looked down at Ian as it tore at him and he thought he saw something like desperation in its glimmering, golden eyes. The animal was frustrated to the point of tears in an utterly childlike way. And he felt sorry for it, even as its teeth shredded his flesh.

Gunfire penetrated the shroud of agony surrounding Ian. The silver bullet pierced through the air above him and buried itself in the plaster of the wall, startling the wolf. Its jaw slackened in shock and Ian seized his chance to escape from it.

He pushed off the wall with his feet, giving him the momentum to roll over on top of the shifter. To his surprise, the wolf didn't even seem to care that Ian had gotten the jump on it. It just bit down on the arm that he was using to press it into the floor.

"Damn it," he cried, trying to push the animal's head back. Its teeth were like daggers in his forearm.

"Move your head," Carden shouted. He was aiming the gun down at them. "I'll have a decent shot if you move back a little."

"No, not yet. I need it alive for information," Ian barked. He slammed the wolf's head against the floor. "Change, damn it. Change back into a human."

The wolf only yelped pathetically and scraped more skin off Ian's arm.

Risa came to his aid and pried the wolf's jaw open while Carden forced its head back. It writhed in their grip, but it wasn't strong enough to fend off all three of them.

Ian stared down at it. "Change," he said to it again. "Just answer our questions and we'll let you go."

"The hell we will," Carden snapped. "Not after what this thing did to Risa yesterday. I'm putting it down like the sick dog that it is. But maybe if it answers your questions, I could be persuaded to do it a little less painfully."

Risa shook her head slowly. "This isn't the wolf that attacked me," she murmured. "That one was more…calculating? No, that's not really the right word. It was more _aware_, I guess. This one is just lashing out."

Ian nodded. "I'm glad someone else noticed it," he said. "I wasn't sure if it was just me."

He looked into the wolf's crazed eyes. There was definitely something wrong with it. Maybe it was sick or starving. But whatever it was, it was keeping the animal from thinking clearly. Ian found himself wondering what those eyes would look like once the shifter changed back into a human. Would they still be this brilliant, golden color? Or did they only look like this because it was an animal?

"Well either way, it did a number on you, McCafferty," Carden spoke up. "Your shoulder looks like ground beef."

"True, but I'm still alive. It never went for the kill."

"That's only because she doesn't know how yet," said a voice behind them.

Ian's head snapped up to see a boy leaning casually against the door frame between the hall and the dining room. He didn't look older than fifteen, but Ian thought that he must have been living on the streets for a long time. His brown hair was greasy and slicked back, as if he hadn't had a shower in weeks, and his filthy clothes were ragged. Anyone would have taken him for just another homeless kid, but Ian could see the unnatural, malicious glint in his eyes.

"You know, it takes a little practice before a wolf learns how to feed and how to kill," the kid explained. "Sometimes they have a knack for it and sometimes they don't. I can't wait to see how she turns out."

"Who the hell are you?" Risa asked. She let go the wolf on the floor, leaving Ian and Carden to hold it down by themselves. She stood up and faced the boy with her hands on her hips.

The boy gave her a strange, dazzling smile that sent a chill down Ian's spine. Someone that young shouldn't look so…rabid. "Hey, you're back," the boy said excitedly. "I was hoping you'd come back."

Risa paled slightly. Although she didn't move, her posture suddenly looked tense, rather than confident. "You're the one?" she asked in disbelief. "You're the shapeshifter who killed those girls?"

The boy pretended not to hear her. "You owe me some money for what you did to my floors," he said nonchalantly. "Oh yeah, how's your arm doing?"

Carden whipped around to glare at the boy and Ian could feel the rage radiating from the vampire. "You hurt her?" he asked hostilely. "I'm going to rip your spine out."

The boy only laughed. It was an unsettling sound—cold and hollow and metallic. He wasn't afraid of anything, Ian realized. "Hey, dude, she was trespassing. She got what she deserved."

"And what about the two girls upstairs?" Risa snarled. "What did they do to deserve what you did to them?"

"Them?" The boy's smile broadened. "That was just for fun. Just a way to kill time."

"And Hollis?" Ian snapped. He was still straddling the wolf on the floor, trying to hold it down by himself while Risa and Carden confronted the boy. "The blond girl who was here earlier. What did you do to her?"

The kid stared at him for a long moment, then threw back his head and laughed. "Man, you Daybreakers are so fucking _stupid_. Who the fuck do you think you're sitting on, dumbass?"

Ian froze. It couldn't be. It wasn't true. "You're lying."

But then he looked down into the wolf's eyes and realized why he found them so remarkable. Those were Hollis's golden eyes, wild from the change. "No," he whispered to himself.

More laughter. "Hey, she wanted it," the boy told him with a smirk. "There was a wild animal in her, just waiting to bust out. As soon as she feeds, I'm going to give her a little test drive."

If he didn't have to hold down the wolf underneath him, Ian would have strangled the kid with his bare hands.

"All right," Carden growled. "I've had about enough of this." He lunged at the boy, but before the vampire could even lay a finger on him, the boy was on the other side of the room.

"Too slow," the kid laughed, flipping his greasy hair out of his face. "I outrun thugs like you every day."

"Look, kid. Do you even know who you're dealing with?" Carden asked. "Ian and I are two of Circle Daybreak's best assassins."

"Daybreak assassins? Ooh, I'm shaking. What are you going to do? Love me to death?" the boy asked sarcastically.

"Well, you've got the 'to death' part right, anyway."

The kid threw an amused glance down at Ian and the wolf. "Well, it looks like your boy is a little busy with that slut, so how about you, me, and your girl go at it? We'll have a hot, sweaty threesome."

"You got it."

Carden drew his gun and aimed it at the boy. He fired off three shots rapidly, but the kid was a blur as he dodged them. He was the fastest moving target that Ian had ever seen.

The vampire fired again, but the boy jumped and transformed into a wolf in midair. He landed heavily with a deep, satisfied roar. A beast let out of its cage.

"Oh, I'm shaking," Carden said, sounding bored as he mocked the kid's words.

Maybe sensing another wolf nearby, the wolf that Ian was holding down started to thrash violently. Could it really be Hollis, snarling and twisting frantically in his grip? He didn't want to believe it, but he still found himself in an agony of reluctance to hurt the wolf.

"Hollis!" he shouted, staring intently into her eyes as he willed her to recognize him.

Her eyes remained vacant. Alien. There was no rational intelligence there, just an animal.

But Ian realized that he'd been right—this wolf was starving. She probably hadn't fed since she'd been changed and the new hunger was driving her out of her mind.

"Hollis, please," he tried again. "You know me."

The wolf still fought him and without Risa and Carden to help restrain her, she threw Ian off in a powerful jerk that sent him sliding across the floor. The hardwood scraped against his mutilated shoulder, pricking it with sharp splinters until he came to a stop at the edge of the hole in the living room floor.

Like a puppy after its bone, the wolf came bounding after him. Ian heard the deteriorated floorboards snapping under the animal's weight and he shouted, "No, no, no!"

But the wolf didn't care or understand. With a loud, jarring crack, the floor underneath both of them broke, sending them plummeting into the basement.

* * *

The shapeshifter was making a fool out of both of them. Risa could sense Carden's burning frustration through the soulmate link. It was just a kid, but they couldn't catch him. Carden was out of ammunition and only one of his shots had hit the wolf. And while it had been ridiculously satisfying to hear its cry when the silver bullet drove through its leg, the shot had barely slowed the shifter down.

The fact that he was only a boy still shook Risa to her core. It just didn't seem possible that the animal that had sliced open the two young girls and feasted on their innards was barely older than his victims had been. The sick person that had left their remains to decay in this filthy, dilapidated house was probably younger than Cori was right now.

Risa had thought that she'd seen evil. She had stalked and hunted it, night after night for most of her life. But she'd never seen anything like this kid. The people she normally killed were usually driven by greed or hate, but this teenage boy had no reasons for the things that he did. He simply enjoyed pain. He left his thoughts completely unguarded and the perverse things that went through his mind—things that he'd done, things that he wanted to do to her—made her nauseous.

And it had a strange affect on her. She was desperate to kill him, but she was also fearful and somewhat awed. She didn't want to touch him. Some part of her was afraid that, if she touched him, his sickness would seep into her. She'd never felt this way while fighting someone and it left her off-balance. It was essential to keep a clear head if she wanted to survive, but she couldn't get past her revulsion.

Carden wasn't doing well either. He was a muscular guy, but Risa knew that he could move a lot faster than he was right now. He barely even resembled the skilled, Daybreak assassin that she knew. It was as if he was distracted by the kid, even as he was trying to fight him. The wolf dodged every kick, every stab, and even took the time to stand back and snort. It struck and slashed, tearing Carden's skin off, one scrape at a time.

Then shifter changed back into his human form. A nasty smirk twisted his mouth. "You're the best that Daybreak has?" he sneered. "I can't believe the Night World hasn't ground you all into dust by now." He threw a punch that Carden barely evaded. "You're all too soft-hearted. You've forgotten how to be what you are."

"And what's that?" Carden asked. He stabbed his heel into the boy's gut with a sidekick, but when he went to follow it up with a roundhouse, the boy caught his foot and hurled him onto the floor.

"Predators," he replied.

Risa ran to her soulmate's side and helped him back up. As she moved, she felt the boy's empty eyes on her.

"You understand what I'm talking about, right Risa?"

She shifted back into her fighting stance next to Carden, using the moment to catch her breath. But the question startled her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

The boy gave her another bright smile. He did that too often. "I know who you are," he said.

"Really? How?"

"Got it from that blond slut's mind."

She had to keep him talking, keep him distracted until she found a way to attack. "How resourceful."

He started to circle her and Risa followed suit. "I've heard the Night World talk about you."

"Yeah? What do they say?"

"They say that you'll be a legend one day."

"Nice to know," she replied dryly, keeping her footwork quick and light.

"You kill the most despicable humans and you don't even care if the human world finds out about us. They say that you are a sign that the time has come for the Night World to stop hiding."

"I don't know about that," she said, not quite hiding her irritation. Damn it, she never meant to inspire the Night World. She'd never imagined how much damage her hunting could cause. She only ever wanted justice. How had it gone so wrong?

"Well, I gotta say that I really admire your work."

Risa sneered, unable to contain the anger flaring up inside her. "You don't know anything about my work!" she snapped. "I kill people like you, you little shit."

The kid laughed again. "Oh, I know. I was hoping that one day I might be able to draw you out, just so I'd have the chance to meet you. I guess all it took was cutting up two little bitches."

Blindly, Risa charged at the boy. It seemed like she'd finally taken him by surprise. She knocked him down and they toppled onto the floor together, rolling over each other.

This was the right way to do it, she realized. No calm, controlled fight. No staying cool, using proper form, anticipating the opponent's movements and using them against him. No clean kill. Like she'd done for her first kill—the man who had raped her friend—she disregarded years of martial arts training and let her rage take over.

She wrestled to get on top of him. Straddling his hips, Risa punched him in the jaw over and over again. Then she slammed the bottom of her fist into his face and chest. He hit her back, but Risa didn't even feel it. She fell into a rhythm. With each blow, his blood spattered on her shirt, on her face, on the floor, but she didn't stop.

She saw her little sister's face and she punched. She saw the rotted bodies he'd left upstairs and she punched. She saw her father's body in the casket and she punched. Her arms ached, but she didn't give a damn. This was it. This was everything. There was no letting up, there was nothing stopping her. She beat and struck this sick, evil kid until his face was a bloody pulp and he was no longer fighting back. And then she hit him some more.

Some time later, strong arms came around her, lifting her off the shifter's body, and she screamed. Flailing her legs, she jabbed the boy in the throat and in the stomach with her heels as she was torn away. She cried and fought like an animal as the arms around her tightened.

"Let me go!" she shrieked. The boy was lying on the floor right in front of her and she wanted to get back to him. She wanted to grind his body into the same disgusting mess that he'd made of the two little girls. "Let me go!"

"Shhh," she heard behind her. "It's all right. It's all right, sweetheart."

The arms held her even tighter, forcing her to be still in the solid embrace. The moment she stopped fighting, Risa's legs gave out from exhaustion. But the arms caught her and lowered her to the floor.

Laying back, she looked up and saw Carden's face. He reached out and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Risa hadn't even realized that she was crying. "It's all right," he said again.

"Is he…?" she asked in a small voice.

Her soulmate nodded. "He's dead. You beat the shit out of him."

She looked over at the body lying across the floor, but all she could see was the head. The boy's skull was split open and blood was pooling around pieces of brain matter that had oozed out. "Jesus," Risa whispered, shivering. "Jesus…"

* * *

The impact with the concrete foundation jolted him, but Ian immediately rolled into a somersault, helping to dispel some of his momentum so that the crash didn't shatter any bones. He was still lying on his back when he heard the wolf—Hollis—shake the dust off her fur, dashing his hopes that the fall would knock her unconscious.

Before Ian could even sit up, Hollis was on top of him again, her heavy paws holding him down as her drool dripped onto his shirt.

He grimaced as he reached out and grabbed the wolf's throat, his thumbs jabbing into pressure points. It was the only defense that he had against Hollis now and it barely held her fangs an inch away from him. Ian pushed his thumbs harder into her, but it didn't help. He wasn't sure if she was ignoring the pain or if she just couldn't feel it at all.

His first instinct was to try to reason with her again, but it wouldn't work. Hollis was too far gone in her hunger to think rationally. Ian doubted that she was even aware of what she was doing. He didn't want to hurt her, but he knew that he had to if he wanted to stay alive.

There was a loud crash on the floor above them and the sound distracted the wolf for a scant second. It was all the time that Ian needed to lean up and smash his elbow into her face. While the wolf yelped, Ian pulled his knees up and kicked her sides, right over her kidneys. Finally he got his feet underneath her body and used them to push her off of him. She slammed into the wall and fell back onto the floor, dazed.

"Sorry, princess," he murmured as he stood up.

More bangs from the ground floor shook the ceiling and Ian ran for the stairs, leaving Hollis in the basement. Once they'd killed the shapeshifter kid, he could get her a heart from one of the Daybreak banks in the city. Maybe after she'd fed, she would change back into her human form. Maybe she would be herself again. For now, Ian just needed her to stay out of the way.

He burst through the basement door and ran into the front hall.

And then he stopped short at the scene before him.

Risa Sinclair was sitting on top of the shapeshifter kid, pounding his body with feverish intensity. She was drenched in blood, but didn't even seem to notice. Carden was standing aside, just watching his soulmate with a pained expression on his face. Neither one of them acknowledged his presence.

Ian was embarrassed. He felt like he'd just intruded on something deeply personal, yet he couldn't force himself to move.

He'd never witnessed Risa kill anyone before, but her file indicated that her kills were usually quick and clean. Whatever he had missed while he'd been battling with Hollis had pushed Risa over the edge.

Had everyone gone mad?

Carden suddenly turned towards him and Ian realized that the other vampire had heard his thought. Before that, Carden hadn't known that Ian was there. But now it was like he was coming out of a trance.

Slipping his arms around Risa, Carden heaved her off of the shifter. She screamed and sobbed as she fought her soulmate, but he didn't let her go. He just held onto her, trying to sooth some deep-rooted pain that Ian did not understand.

He averted his eyes to give them some privacy and looked at the shifter lying on the floor. The boy was dead; he had bled out from the damage that Risa had inflicted. Ian stared at the body for a long time while Carden and Risa held each other and had a whispered conversation that he did not want to overhear.

Still, he envied them. It wasn't their soulmate connection that he wanted. That seemed almost circumstantial. True, they'd probably met because of the link and maybe it had pulled them together faster than they might have done on their own. But they loved each other in a way that had nothing to do with silver cords or reading each other's minds.

Ian scowled.

He didn't know what drove him to do it. Part of him was outraged at the blasphemy of it. That was the part that belonged to Circle Daybreak. It believed in the sanctity of life and it believed in having respect for the dead, even for those that had wronged him. In death, we are all equal, so the credo went.

But he was still an assassin. And the part of him that understood why Risa had hunted down criminals, the part of him that felt horrified and outraged at what the shifter had done to Hollis, the part of him that craved vengeance drove him over to the body. He grabbed the kid's arm, slippery with blood, and used it to drag the body across the hall and into the living room. And then Ian bent down and shoved it through the hole in the floor.

He heard a low, rumbling growl. Hollis, still a wolf, was on top of the body in a matter of seconds, tearing it to shreds. And Ian watched from the floor above her, feeling totally numb.


	13. Epilogue

_I just want to thank everyone for reading this story. Writing it was a great experience for me because I only had vague ideas about it when I started and then just threw myself right into it. I toyed around with Haunted for four years before I finally started putting it all together. Hopefully my next story will be a compromise.. I want to take more time setting it up before I start posting, but hopefully not _too_ long!_

_And thank you to my dedicated reviewers: Kalika Scott, incarnated-soul, wolfseye1, CalliopeMused, Daugain, syrai, Darklight Shadow, and Perceive._

* * *

Hollis folded the last of her sweaters and placed it in her suitcase. It had taken her an absurdly long time to pack. She kept getting distracted by a multitude of tiny details, like the softness or coarseness of her clothes, the azure color of the sky as the sun set, and the smells of other people that were constantly wafting on the air. She had actually sat down on the side of her bed for ten minutes, simply inhaling the scent of her own shampoo.

The world was so fresh and vivid now. It was gripping and terrifying at the same time. With every breath, every blink, every touch, Hollis was reminded that her life had been completely altered. She would never be herself again. The girl she'd been was dead and gone, slaughtered by a teenage shapeshifter, and she didn't know what was left.

She didn't remember much about what had happened to her after she'd left the hotel. Though, she supposed that she should be grateful because the few details that she did remember—talking to a grimy boy outside of the townhouse, the boy grabbing her wrist and hauling her inside, the slice of his teeth through her skin, the taste of blood and flesh—were enough to leave her shaking.

When her memory finally crashed down around her, Hollis had found herself lying naked on a cold, cement floor. She'd been covered in blood and she hadn't even known whose it was. Then Ian had been next to her, his arms around her, and she'd remembered what she'd done to his shoulder. Turning her head, she'd seen the body of the shapeshifter boy on the floor beside her. In that moment, she had suddenly understood what she'd become. She thought that that would have been the worst moment of her life if hadn't been so surreal.

But she was trying to shut it out of her mind now. There was no way she could function otherwise.

Just as Hollis was zipping up her suitcase, there was a knock at the door. Even though she knew who it had to be, she checked the peephole. She knew now that a person really couldn't be too careful. But seeing that it was Ian, she opened the door.

"Hey," he said softly. The sound of that one word was enough to make her knees weak. His voice was incredible to her now. It was low and rich, like a caress. And it was somehow intimate, even when he wasn't trying to make it so. "How are you?"

Hollis shrugged awkwardly. She was beginning to hate that question. Ian had already asked her that too many times. So had Risa and Carden. She still didn't know the answer, but she gave Ian her usual reply. "Fine. Why did you knock out here instead of the inside door?"

"Oh, I just saw Risa and Carden out," he said. "They have their own issues to deal with, now that Daybreak has officially cancelled the contract on her."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You filed the paperwork already? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to bother you when—"

"It's my _job_, Ian," Hollis snapped. She turned away from the door and walked back inside her room. He moved soundlessly, but she could feel his heat behind her as he followed. It was both disconcerting and delicious.

"I know that it's you're job," Ian said. "But you're going through something right now and I didn't want you to have to deal with something as tedious as paperwork."

Hollis rolled her eyes as she sat down on the bed, her anger fading. "I like paperwork," she muttered.

Ian gave a short laugh. "Yeah, I'm aware of that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's just that you tend to bury yourself in work when you're trying to avoid things."

Hot blood rushed into Hollis's cheeks and she tried to think of a good retort, but her mind sputtered to a halt. Good to know that some things never changed.

Ian sat down next to her and put his hand on her thigh, just above her knee. The warmth of the touch spread through her body.

"I'm not going to let you avoid this," he continued quietly. "The shifter changed you and you have to deal with that. You can't just keep telling me that you're fine because I know you're not."

"Maybe not," she admitted. "But we're going back to headquarters soon. There will be people there who can help me…adjust. Assuming, of course, that I don't get fired for my own stupidity."

"You won't. I'll make sure of it."

Hollis lifted her gaze to him. "Why? I thought that you more than anyone would…" she trailed off, remembering the callous words that he had thrown at her the night she'd gone after Risa by herself. It seemed crass to bring it up now, after he'd already apologized.

"Circle Daybreak needs people who like to do paperwork," Ian replied lightly. But then he looked at her soberly, his eyes dark with some emotion that she couldn't name. His voice fell to a hush. "Ah, but we were trying for brutal honesty, right? Well, the truth is that I can't stand the thought of you leaving."

She was thunderstruck. "Why?"

For a moment, Hollis was afraid that Ian would laugh at her question, but he continued to look at her with the same intensity in his eyes. "Because you drive me crazy," he said. "Because I was terrified when I realized that you were missing. Because I'm grateful beyond words that you're alive. Because I swore that if I found you I'd never let you out of my sight again. Because you're you."

Hollis's eyes filled with tears and she bowed her head to hide them. "I don't even know who I am any more," she said in a small voice. "I, uh…I asked him to change me. He hurt me and I knew that I was dying and…I asked him to do it."  
"You think I care about that?"

"_I_ care about that. I knew that he would only use me, but that didn't matter. I just didn't want to die. And I'm supposed to be better than that. I'm supposed to—"

Ian cupped her cheek and turned her face towards him. The tears that had been welling in her eyes spilled on to her cheeks. "You're not _supposed_ to be anything, princess," he said. "I don't understand why you're so ashamed of who you really are. If you hadn't asked him to do it, then you wouldn't be here right now.

"No, you're not perfect, but I would never want you to be. I like the way you blush, the way you laugh, the way you babble when you're nervous. I think you're sexy when you swear, when you're nerdy, when you're passionate, when you're pig-headed. I don't want the façade, Hollis. I just want you. And if you don't know who that is right now, I want to be with you while you figure it out."

She gave him a tremulous smile. "You like it when I babble?"

He laughed softly as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Oh yeah," he murmured. His lips brushed her skin as he spoke and Hollis shivered. When he began to kiss her neck, it was almost more than she could take because of her heightened sense of touch. "It's cute."

"No one has ever called me 'cute' before," she said breathlessly. Ian's fingers slid into her hair, holding her close against him. "No one's ever called me 'pig-headed' either. I think most people would say that I'm rather agreeable. In fact—"

Ian silenced her with a kiss that stole the bones from her body. Her arms went around his neck for support and they fell back onto the bed.

"What were you saying?" Ian asked, bracing himself above her.

"Hell if I know," Hollis replied. Then she pulled his mouth back down to hers, relaxing as she let her visceral instincts take over.

* * *

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Carden asked her. "It could get ugly."

They were standing out in the street in front of the enormous house that Risa's mother and sister still lived in. It hurt to look at it, this place where she had cultivated her craving for vengeance. She hadn't been back here since she "died". It had been too risky. And now, after so much time had passed, it reminded her of how much she had lost when Carden had changed her, and how much she could have had if she hadn't gotten so obsessed with hunting.

"It should be ugly," she murmured. "They're about to find out that their daughter and sister was alive for the past eight years—as a vampire, mind you—and never bothered to tell them. If it's all smiles and hugs after a blow like that, then there's something seriously wrong."

But what Risa was really afraid of was their reactions when she told her mother and Cori what she'd done. It pained her to imagine the hate or revulsion that would come over them when they looked at her and saw a monster. A murderer.

Carden felt her anxiety and took her hand. "Do you have to tell them?"

"Yes," Risa replied with more conviction than she felt. "I'm through lying and hiding. That's what I did the last two or three years that I lived here. I was always sneaking out to go on killing sprees. They never really knew who I was. If they want me back in their lives, I want them to understand what they're getting."

"And what about me?" Carden asked.

Risa looked up at him, puzzled. "What about you?"

"What will I be getting?"

"You want me in your life?" she asked him slowly.

"I'm still here, aren't I?"

"Yes, but—"

"Did you think I was just going to drop you off here and be on my way?"

She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what I thought. I just wouldn't allow myself to get my hopes up."

"Look, if you want me to say it, then I'll say it. I was a complete fuckhead to leave you in the first place, Risa. I told myself that it was what you wanted. For eight years I told myself that. But it was really because I couldn't face what I'd done to you. I couldn't handle you hating me."

"I didn't hate you," she said. But then she faltered under the weight of his skeptical stare. "I know I said that. But I was mostly just mad. Hurt. Betrayed. I didn't hate you until you left me."

A crooked smile captured Carden's lips. "So where does that leave us?"

"Here, I guess," Risa replied coyly.

He laughed. "You're trying to kill me, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said with an innocent smile.

"All right," Carden said. He held her face in his hands and gazed into her eyes. "Fine. I'll be the one to go out on the limb. Here's my formal declaration, sweetheart. I want you in my life for as long as you'll have me."

"You're willing to give up all those slutty blondes?" Risa asked playfully as she slipped her arms around his neck.

"No, I don't think that wasn't part of the deal."

Risa smacked the back of his head.

"All right, all right," Carden laughed. "No slutty blondes. But how do you feel about redheads?"

"That's it," she said, leaning up to kiss him. Risa pressed herself against him and ravaged his mouth with desire that had been silently simmering inside her for eight years. The soulmate link blazed with new heat, searing through them both.

When Carden finally pulled away, he was breathless. "Okay, screw the redheads. I think you're all that I can handle."

Risa smiled smugly as she tried to catch her own breath. "Good."

Her soulmate intertwined their fingers and brought her hand up to his lips. "Come on," he said, nodding to the house. "Let's do this."

She took a deep breath. "Okay."

Together they walked across the street and up the path to the front door. She had no idea what her mother and sister would say, but Risa suddenly couldn't wait to hear it. Even if they yelled and screamed, it wouldn't matter because she would be with them. And she would fight like hell to get them to forgive her and accept her, just as she would fight to make amends for the wrongs she had committed.

Risa squeezed Carden's hand tightly as she rang the doorbell. She could feel his love through the link and wondered how she hadn't seen it all those years ago. Well, that didn't matter either because he was here now. And with her soulmate at her side, she was sure that she could handle whatever happened when the door opened.


End file.
